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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: fall · staff · swing · shower · band · coach · club · row

  1. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  2. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  3. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  4. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  5. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  6. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  7. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  8. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  9. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  10. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  11. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  12. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  13. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  14. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  15. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  16. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  17. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  18. Have you met the new head ________________?
  19. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  20. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  21. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  22. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  23. David sat on the ________________.
  24. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. coach — pulled by horses
  3. club — for dancing
  4. row — a quarrel
  5. row — to paddle
  6. club — a group
  7. band — a music group
  8. shower — rain
  9. fall — the season
  10. shower — a meteor shower
  11. fall — to drop
  12. staff — employees
  13. coach — a trainer
  14. band — a rubber band
  15. shower — to wash
  16. swing — in golf
  17. row — a line
  18. coach — a trainer
  19. band — a ring
  20. staff — employees
  21. staff — a stick
  22. club — for golf
  23. swing — to play on
  24. swing — music

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