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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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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: swing · calf · mark · root · fan · shower · clip · hand

  1. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  4. David sat on the ________________.
  5. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  6. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  9. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  10. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  11. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  12. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  13. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  14. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  15. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  18. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  19. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  20. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  21. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  22. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  23. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  24. She got the top ________________ in the exam.

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

Answer key

  1. mark — to pay attention
  2. clip — for paper
  3. fan — a supporter
  4. swing — to play on
  5. swing — in golf
  6. shower — a meteor shower
  7. clip — to cut
  8. root — of a plant
  9. root — of a word
  10. shower — rain
  11. hand — help
  12. mark — a trace
  13. hand — in cards
  14. calf — of the leg
  15. fan — a supporter
  16. clip — a video
  17. swing — music
  18. hand — part of the body
  19. shower — to wash
  20. fan — to cool the air
  21. calf — a young animal
  22. calf — a young animal
  23. root — the cause
  24. mark — a grade

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