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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: shower · swing · last · row · lean · safe · march · wind

  1. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  2. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  3. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  4. David sat on the ________________.
  5. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  6. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  7. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  8. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  9. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  10. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  11. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  12. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  13. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  14. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  15. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  16. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  17. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  18. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  19. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  20. False peace will not ________________.
  21. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  22. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  23. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  24. He is as ________________ as a wolf.

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

Answer key

  1. safe — a strongbox
  2. safe — out of danger
  3. wind — moving air
  4. swing — to play on
  5. row — a quarrel
  6. shower — a meteor shower
  7. row — a line
  8. safe — out of danger
  9. lean — to bend
  10. march — the month
  11. shower — to wash
  12. wind — to turn a key
  13. shower — rain
  14. last — final
  15. row — to paddle
  16. march — the month
  17. last — finally
  18. swing — in golf
  19. march — music
  20. last — to go on
  21. swing — music
  22. lean — to rest against
  23. wind — moving air
  24. lean — thin

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