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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: mine · row · arm · lean · shower · cell · wave · bat

  1. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  2. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  3. He was locked up in a ________________.
  4. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  5. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  6. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  7. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  8. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  9. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  10. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  11. My father caught me by the ________________.
  12. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  13. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  14. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  15. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  16. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  17. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  18. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  19. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  20. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  21. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  22. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — a meteor shower
  2. bat — the animal
  3. cell — in a prison
  4. arm — part of the body
  5. lean — to rest against
  6. mine — for digging
  7. shower — rain
  8. cell — a phone
  9. mine — belonging to me
  10. row — a quarrel
  11. arm — part of the body
  12. lean — to bend
  13. row — to paddle
  14. wave — with your hand
  15. lean — thin
  16. shower — to wash
  17. row — a line
  18. arm — a part of something
  19. wave — of the sea
  20. wave — a sudden rise
  21. cell — in biology
  22. mine — an explosive
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. bat — in an idiom

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