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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 120 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: swing · mark · deal · hand · shower · game · plane · squash

  1. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  2. David sat on the ________________.
  3. That was a fun ________________.
  4. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  5. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  6. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  7. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  8. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  9. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  10. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  11. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  12. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  13. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  14. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  15. The ________________ took off on time.
  16. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  17. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  18. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  19. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  20. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  21. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  22. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  23. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  24. I got dealt a bad ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mark — to pay attention
  2. swing — to play on
  3. game — a match
  4. mark — a trace
  5. swing — in golf
  6. deal — to handle
  7. hand — help
  8. game — a kind of play
  9. plane — in geometry
  10. shower — to wash
  11. squash — to crush
  12. shower — a meteor shower
  13. shower — rain
  14. deal — a big deal
  15. plane — an aircraft
  16. deal — an agreement
  17. squash — the sport
  18. hand — part of the body
  19. plane — a tool
  20. squash — the vegetable
  21. swing — music
  22. game — wild animals
  23. mark — a grade
  24. hand — in cards

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