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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 · swing · squash · tube · charge · clip · chest · race

  1. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  2. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  3. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  4. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  5. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  6. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  10. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  11. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  12. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  13. The tickets are free of ________________.
  14. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  15. David sat on the ________________.
  16. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  17. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  18. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  19. I'll be taking the ________________.
  20. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  23. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  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. chest — of your body
  2. tube — in a tire
  3. squash — to crush
  4. tube — a container
  5. race — the arms race
  6. squash — the vegetable
  7. clip — to cut
  8. clip — for paper
  9. swing — music
  10. race — humankind
  11. chest — of your body
  12. charge — in control
  13. charge — a price
  14. chest — a box
  15. swing — to play on
  16. race — a contest
  17. shower — a meteor shower
  18. charge — electricity
  19. tube — the underground
  20. shower — to wash
  21. clip — a video
  22. swing — in golf
  23. squash — the sport
  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