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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: mark · mine · shower · bound · swing · fine · snap · plane

  1. David sat on the ________________.
  2. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  3. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  4. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  5. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  6. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  7. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  8. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  9. The ________________ took off on time.
  10. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  11. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  12. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  13. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  14. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  15. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  16. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  17. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  18. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  19. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  20. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  21. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  22. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  23. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  24. That was ________________ to happen.

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

Answer key

  1. swing — to play on
  2. mark — to pay attention
  3. snap — to click
  4. fine — all right
  5. mark — a trace
  6. mine — belonging to me
  7. swing — music
  8. mark — a grade
  9. plane — an aircraft
  10. mine — for digging
  11. bound — tied together
  12. fine — high quality
  13. snap — to speak sharply
  14. fine — a penalty
  15. plane — a tool
  16. shower — to wash
  17. snap — to snap out of it
  18. bound — obliged
  19. mine — an explosive
  20. shower — a meteor shower
  21. shower — rain
  22. swing — in golf
  23. plane — in geometry
  24. bound — certain

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