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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 120 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: shower · land · bark · swing · snap · pit · deal · hand

  1. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  2. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  3. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  4. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  5. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  6. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  7. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  8. David sat on the ________________.
  9. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  10. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  11. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  12. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  13. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  14. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  15. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  16. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  17. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  18. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  19. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  20. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  21. When are we going to ________________?
  22. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  23. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  24. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — a dog's sound
  2. snap — to click
  3. bark — to shout
  4. land — a country
  5. bark — of a tree
  6. snap — to snap out of it
  7. land — ground
  8. swing — to play on
  9. swing — music
  10. hand — part of the body
  11. deal — an agreement
  12. hand — in cards
  13. shower — rain
  14. pit — a fruit stone
  15. swing — in golf
  16. shower — a meteor shower
  17. pit — in a race
  18. deal — a big deal
  19. shower — to wash
  20. pit — a hole
  21. land — to come down
  22. deal — to handle
  23. hand — help
  24. snap — to speak sharply

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