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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: shower · club · nail · spring · wind · coach · lash · swing

  1. The ________________ went through the wall.
  2. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  3. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  4. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  5. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  6. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  7. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  8. David sat on the ________________.
  9. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  10. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  11. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  12. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  13. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  14. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  15. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  16. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  17. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  18. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  19. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  20. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  21. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  22. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  23. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  24. Have you met the new head ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. nail — for a hammer
  2. shower — rain
  3. club — a group
  4. coach — pulled by horses
  5. lash — an eyelash
  6. swing — music
  7. nail — on a finger
  8. swing — to play on
  9. lash — a whip stroke
  10. coach — a trainer
  11. wind — to turn a key
  12. shower — to wash
  13. wind — moving air
  14. club — for dancing
  15. nail — for a hammer
  16. wind — moving air
  17. lash — to lash out
  18. spring — of water
  19. swing — in golf
  20. shower — a meteor shower
  21. club — for golf
  22. spring — the season
  23. spring — a coil
  24. coach — a trainer

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