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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 120 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: game · ruler · bass · chest · spring · shower · row · file

  1. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  3. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  4. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  5. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  6. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  7. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  8. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  9. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  10. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  11. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  12. That was a fun ________________.
  13. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  14. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  15. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  16. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  17. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  18. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  19. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  20. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  21. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  22. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  23. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  24. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. file — a tool
  3. chest — a box
  4. bass — low music
  5. file — a document
  6. chest — of your body
  7. row — to paddle
  8. game — a kind of play
  9. spring — a coil
  10. ruler — for measuring
  11. file — a line of people
  12. game — a match
  13. row — a line
  14. bass — the instrument
  15. ruler — for measuring
  16. spring — the season
  17. ruler — a monarch
  18. game — wild animals
  19. row — a quarrel
  20. shower — a meteor shower
  21. bass — the fish
  22. shower — rain
  23. chest — of your body
  24. spring — of water

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