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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: shower · swing · squash · trunk · rest · rock · hand · current

  1. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  2. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  3. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  4. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  5. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  6. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  7. David sat on the ________________.
  8. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  9. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  10. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  11. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  12. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  13. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  14. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  15. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  16. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  17. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  18. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  19. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  20. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  21. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  22. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  23. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  24. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.

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

Answer key

  1. rock — music
  2. squash — to crush
  3. rock — a stone
  4. rock — to move gently
  5. current — electric
  6. current — of water
  7. swing — to play on
  8. rest — a break
  9. hand — help
  10. squash — the vegetable
  11. shower — a meteor shower
  12. shower — rain
  13. swing — in golf
  14. swing — music
  15. trunk — of a tree
  16. shower — to wash
  17. hand — part of the body
  18. current — happening now
  19. squash — the sport
  20. trunk — of an elephant
  21. trunk — of a car
  22. rest — what's left
  23. hand — in cards
  24. rest — what's left

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