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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 116 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: straw · cell · kid · hand · bore · swing · snap · shower

  1. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  3. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  4. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  5. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  6. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  7. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  8. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  9. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  10. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  11. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  12. David sat on the ________________.
  13. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  14. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  15. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  16. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  17. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  18. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  19. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  20. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  21. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  22. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  23. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  24. He was locked up in a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. shower — a meteor shower
  3. kid — child
  4. snap — to click
  5. swing — music
  6. bore — to tire
  7. cell — in biology
  8. snap — to speak sharply
  9. swing — in golf
  10. cell — a phone
  11. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  12. swing — to play on
  13. hand — help
  14. straw — dry grass
  15. bore — to drill
  16. straw — to clutch at straws
  17. hand — in cards
  18. hand — part of the body
  19. straw — a straw man
  20. kid — to tease
  21. snap — to snap out of it
  22. shower — rain
  23. bore — gave birth
  24. cell — in a prison

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