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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: cell · bay · club · swing · hand · shower · bear · bat

  1. David sat on the ________________.
  2. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  3. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  4. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  5. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  6. He was locked up in a ________________.
  7. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  8. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  9. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  10. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  11. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  12. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  13. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  14. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  15. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  16. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  17. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  18. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  19. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  20. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  21. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  22. My mare is ________________ in color.
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.

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

Answer key

  1. swing — to play on
  2. club — for golf
  3. bear — the animal
  4. cell — a phone
  5. shower — to wash
  6. cell — in a prison
  7. cell — in biology
  8. shower — a meteor shower
  9. bat — for baseball
  10. bay — a part of the sea
  11. bear — the animal
  12. club — for dancing
  13. hand — help
  14. bay — to keep at bay
  15. shower — rain
  16. swing — in golf
  17. swing — music
  18. hand — part of the body
  19. hand — in cards
  20. club — a group
  21. bear — to put up with
  22. bay — a horse colour
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. bat — the animal

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