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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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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: snap · bat · swing · field · shower · kick · wind · dip

  1. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  2. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  3. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  4. David sat on the ________________.
  5. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  6. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  7. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  8. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  9. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  10. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  11. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  12. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  13. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  14. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  15. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  16. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  17. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  18. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  19. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  20. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  21. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  22. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  23. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  24. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — a meteor shower
  2. swing — music
  3. dip — to dunk
  4. swing — to play on
  5. snap — to click
  6. field — farmland
  7. wind — moving air
  8. field — a subject
  9. snap — to snap out of it
  10. shower — rain
  11. kick — in football
  12. dip — a sauce
  13. kick — with a leg
  14. bat — for baseball
  15. bat — in an idiom
  16. field — for sport
  17. snap — to speak sharply
  18. swing — in golf
  19. shower — to wash
  20. bat — the animal
  21. dip — to sink
  22. kick — a thrill
  23. wind — moving air
  24. wind — to turn a key

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