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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: swing · patient · shower · hand · object · snap · track · last

  1. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  2. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  3. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  4. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  5. David sat on the ________________.
  6. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  7. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  8. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  9. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  10. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  11. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  12. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  13. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  14. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  15. False peace will not ________________.
  16. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  17. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  18. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  19. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  20. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  21. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  22. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  23. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  24. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to speak sharply
  2. patient — calm and waiting
  3. object — an aim
  4. hand — in cards
  5. swing — to play on
  6. patient — a sick person
  7. snap — to click
  8. hand — help
  9. patient — a sick person
  10. object — a thing
  11. swing — in golf
  12. last — finally
  13. snap — to snap out of it
  14. track — a path
  15. last — to go on
  16. shower — rain
  17. last — final
  18. shower — to wash
  19. shower — a meteor shower
  20. track — to keep track
  21. hand — part of the body
  22. object — to protest
  23. track — a song
  24. swing — music

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