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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: wound · wave · shower · row · fall · bear · spring · snap

  1. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  2. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  3. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  4. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  5. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  6. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  7. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  8. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  9. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  10. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  11. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  12. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  13. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  14. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  15. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  16. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  17. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  18. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  19. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  20. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  21. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  22. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  23. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  24. We took cover from the thunder ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wave — with your hand
  2. row — to paddle
  3. wave — of the sea
  4. snap — to click
  5. shower — a meteor shower
  6. bear — the animal
  7. bear — the animal
  8. wound — an injury
  9. fall — to drop
  10. spring — the season
  11. wound — an injury
  12. shower — to wash
  13. row — a quarrel
  14. bear — to put up with
  15. snap — to speak sharply
  16. spring — a coil
  17. wave — a sudden rise
  18. row — a line
  19. spring — of water
  20. snap — to snap out of it
  21. fall — to drop
  22. wound — past of 'wind'
  23. fall — the season
  24. shower — rain

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