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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 116 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: land · firm · row · shower · bound · content · squash · swing

  1. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. That was ________________ to happen.
  4. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  5. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  6. David sat on the ________________.
  7. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  8. When are we going to ________________?
  9. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  10. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  11. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  12. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  13. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  14. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  15. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  16. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  17. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  18. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  19. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  20. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  21. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  22. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  23. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  24. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. content — happy
  3. bound — certain
  4. content — videos and posts
  5. row — a line
  6. swing — to play on
  7. land — ground
  8. land — to come down
  9. firm — steady
  10. squash — the vegetable
  11. land — a country
  12. firm — decided
  13. bound — tied together
  14. shower — rain
  15. squash — the sport
  16. swing — music
  17. shower — a meteor shower
  18. bound — obliged
  19. squash — to crush
  20. row — a quarrel
  21. content — the amount
  22. firm — a company
  23. row — to paddle
  24. swing — in golf

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