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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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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: arm · bound · bark · march · swing · shower · spring · content

  1. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  2. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  3. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  4. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  5. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  6. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  7. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  8. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  9. My father caught me by the ________________.
  10. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  11. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  12. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  13. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  14. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  15. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  16. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  17. That was ________________ to happen.
  18. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  19. David sat on the ________________.
  20. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  21. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  22. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  23. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  24. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — rain
  2. march — the month
  3. shower — to wash
  4. content — videos and posts
  5. arm — a part of something
  6. content — the amount
  7. swing — music
  8. spring — a coil
  9. arm — part of the body
  10. arm — part of the body
  11. march — music
  12. bark — a dog's sound
  13. content — happy
  14. shower — a meteor shower
  15. bound — obliged
  16. spring — the season
  17. bound — certain
  18. bark — of a tree
  19. swing — to play on
  20. swing — in golf
  21. spring — of water
  22. bark — to shout
  23. bound — tied together
  24. march — the month

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