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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: dip · scale · hand · shower · swing · fan · wind · clip

  1. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  2. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  3. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  4. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  5. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  6. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  7. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  8. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  9. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  10. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  11. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  12. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  13. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  16. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  19. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  20. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  21. David sat on the ________________.
  22. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  23. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  24. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — to cool the air
  2. fan — a supporter
  3. dip — a sauce
  4. dip — to sink
  5. hand — help
  6. scale — for weighing
  7. shower — a meteor shower
  8. swing — in golf
  9. wind — moving air
  10. shower — rain
  11. swing — music
  12. shower — to wash
  13. scale — in music
  14. clip — a video
  15. hand — part of the body
  16. hand — in cards
  17. clip — for paper
  18. wind — moving air
  19. dip — to dunk
  20. fan — a supporter
  21. swing — to play on
  22. wind — to turn a key
  23. scale — size or range
  24. clip — to cut

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