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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 · kid · rock · club · kick · wind · mate · branch

  1. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  2. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  3. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  4. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  5. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  6. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  7. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  8. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  9. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  10. Have you found your soul ________________?
  11. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  12. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  13. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  14. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  15. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  16. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  17. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  18. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  19. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  20. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  21. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  22. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  23. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  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. rock — to move gently
  2. mate — to breed
  3. shower — rain
  4. kick — with a leg
  5. rock — music
  6. kid — to tease
  7. kick — a thrill
  8. wind — to turn a key
  9. mate — a friend
  10. mate — a partner
  11. shower — a meteor shower
  12. club — for dancing
  13. kid — child
  14. rock — a stone
  15. branch — of a bank
  16. branch — of a tree
  17. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  18. branch — a division
  19. wind — moving air
  20. club — for golf
  21. kick — in football
  22. club — a group
  23. wind — moving air
  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