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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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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: wind · shower · rule · spring · snap · game · pound · leaves

  1. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  2. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  3. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  4. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  5. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  6. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  7. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  8. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  9. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  10. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  11. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  12. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  13. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  14. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  15. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  16. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  17. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  18. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  19. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  20. That was a fun ________________.
  21. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  22. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  23. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  24. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.

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

Answer key

  1. game — wild animals
  2. spring — a coil
  3. wind — moving air
  4. shower — to wash
  5. wind — moving air
  6. pound — to hit hard
  7. snap — to speak sharply
  8. spring — the season
  9. pound — for dogs
  10. rule — to rule out
  11. spring — of water
  12. leaves — to go away
  13. snap — to click
  14. shower — rain
  15. shower — a meteor shower
  16. rule — a law
  17. leaves — lets stay
  18. rule — government
  19. leaves — of a tree
  20. game — a match
  21. pound — a weight
  22. wind — to turn a key
  23. game — a kind of play
  24. snap — to snap out of it

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