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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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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: clip · charge · swing · shower · trunk · plane · wound · ground

  1. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  2. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  3. David sat on the ________________.
  4. The ________________ took off on time.
  5. There's no middle ________________.
  6. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  7. The tickets are free of ________________.
  8. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  9. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  10. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  11. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  12. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  13. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  16. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  17. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  20. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  21. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  24. He's taking a ________________ right now.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — past of 'wind'
  2. charge — in control
  3. swing — to play on
  4. plane — an aircraft
  5. ground — a position
  6. trunk — of a tree
  7. charge — a price
  8. shower — a meteor shower
  9. ground — the earth
  10. wound — an injury
  11. wound — an injury
  12. ground — crushed
  13. charge — electricity
  14. clip — a video
  15. trunk — of an elephant
  16. swing — in golf
  17. shower — rain
  18. clip — to cut
  19. trunk — of a car
  20. plane — a tool
  21. swing — music
  22. clip — for paper
  23. plane — in geometry
  24. shower — to wash

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