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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: ground · shower · wake · swing · saw · spring · last · content

  1. She's very handy with a ________________.
  2. He works in a ________________ mill.
  3. False peace will not ________________.
  4. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  5. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  6. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  7. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  8. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  9. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  10. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  11. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  12. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  13. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  14. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  15. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  16. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  17. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  18. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  19. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  20. David sat on the ________________.
  21. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  22. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  23. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  24. There's no middle ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. saw — the tool
  2. saw — the tool
  3. last — to go on
  4. content — videos and posts
  5. shower — rain
  6. wake — to stop sleeping
  7. ground — crushed
  8. saw — past of 'see'
  9. shower — to wash
  10. spring — a coil
  11. last — final
  12. shower — a meteor shower
  13. wake — a trail
  14. swing — music
  15. last — finally
  16. content — happy
  17. spring — of water
  18. spring — the season
  19. ground — the earth
  20. swing — to play on
  21. swing — in golf
  22. content — the amount
  23. wake — before a funeral
  24. ground — a position

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