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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: shower · field · trunk · swing · wound · snap · wave · drill

  1. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  4. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  5. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  6. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  7. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  8. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  9. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  10. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  11. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  12. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  13. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  14. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  15. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  16. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  17. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  18. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  19. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  20. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  21. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  22. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  23. David sat on the ________________.
  24. We ________________ up on opposing sides.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — rain
  2. field — farmland
  3. drill — the tool
  4. drill — a practice
  5. wave — of the sea
  6. swing — music
  7. wound — an injury
  8. snap — to click
  9. wound — an injury
  10. shower — to wash
  11. trunk — of a tree
  12. swing — in golf
  13. trunk — of a car
  14. field — a subject
  15. field — for sport
  16. wave — with your hand
  17. wave — a sudden rise
  18. trunk — of an elephant
  19. drill — army training
  20. shower — a meteor shower
  21. snap — to speak sharply
  22. snap — to snap out of it
  23. swing — to play on
  24. wound — past of 'wind'

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