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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: kid · shower · cap · saw · rest · swing · spring · temple

  1. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  2. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  3. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  4. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  5. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  6. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  7. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  8. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  9. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  10. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  11. She's very handy with a ________________.
  12. David sat on the ________________.
  13. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  14. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  15. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  16. When was this ________________ built?
  17. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  18. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  19. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  20. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  21. He works in a ________________ mill.
  22. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  23. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  24. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  2. swing — music
  3. cap — of ice
  4. shower — to wash
  5. cap — a hat
  6. rest — what's left
  7. rest — a break
  8. rest — what's left
  9. kid — to tease
  10. spring — of water
  11. saw — the tool
  12. swing — to play on
  13. saw — past of 'see'
  14. kid — child
  15. temple — a place of worship
  16. temple — a place of worship
  17. shower — rain
  18. temple — side of the head
  19. swing — in golf
  20. cap — a lid
  21. saw — the tool
  22. spring — the season
  23. spring — a coil
  24. shower — a meteor shower

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