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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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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 · cue · mine · saw · swing · rest · kid · ground

  1. She's very handy with a ________________.
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  4. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  5. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  6. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  7. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  8. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  9. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  10. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  11. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  12. He works in a ________________ mill.
  13. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  14. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  15. There's no middle ________________.
  16. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  17. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  18. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  19. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  20. David sat on the ________________.
  21. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  22. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  23. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  24. She's sitting on a gold ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. saw — the tool
  2. kid — to tease
  3. mine — an explosive
  4. shower — rain
  5. saw — past of 'see'
  6. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  7. cue — a signal
  8. cue — for pool
  9. cue — a hint
  10. ground — crushed
  11. rest — what's left
  12. saw — the tool
  13. ground — the earth
  14. shower — a meteor shower
  15. ground — a position
  16. rest — a break
  17. swing — music
  18. kid — child
  19. shower — to wash
  20. swing — to play on
  21. swing — in golf
  22. mine — belonging to me
  23. rest — what's left
  24. mine — for digging

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