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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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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: hand · bank · last · shower · chair · wake · swing · dip

  1. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  2. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  3. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  4. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  5. David sat on the ________________.
  6. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  7. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  8. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  9. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  10. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  11. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  12. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  13. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  14. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  15. False peace will not ________________.
  16. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  17. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  18. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  19. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  20. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  21. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  22. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  23. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  24. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.

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

Answer key

  1. last — finally
  2. bank — for money
  3. swing — music
  4. hand — part of the body
  5. swing — to play on
  6. hand — in cards
  7. bank — of a river
  8. bank — for money
  9. shower — rain
  10. shower — to wash
  11. wake — a trail
  12. wake — before a funeral
  13. last — final
  14. dip — to sink
  15. last — to go on
  16. chair — a professorship
  17. swing — in golf
  18. dip — to dunk
  19. hand — help
  20. chair — a leader
  21. chair — to sit on
  22. shower — a meteor shower
  23. dip — a sauce
  24. wake — to stop sleeping

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