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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: trunk · shower · rule · wind · spring · swing · pop · bowl

  1. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  2. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  3. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  4. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  5. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  6. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  7. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  8. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  9. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  10. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  11. David sat on the ________________.
  12. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  13. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  14. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  15. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  16. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  17. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  18. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  19. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  20. We're almost out of ________________.
  21. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  22. You don't need to ________________ round.
  23. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  24. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. rule — government
  2. pop — music
  3. bowl — to roll
  4. spring — of water
  5. shower — a meteor shower
  6. bowl — a dish
  7. trunk — of an elephant
  8. swing — in golf
  9. wind — moving air
  10. bowl — a football final
  11. swing — to play on
  12. wind — to turn a key
  13. rule — to rule out
  14. shower — to wash
  15. rule — a law
  16. trunk — of a car
  17. spring — the season
  18. shower — rain
  19. wind — moving air
  20. pop — soda
  21. swing — music
  22. pop — to visit
  23. spring — a coil
  24. trunk — of a tree

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com