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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: rock · mine · row · trunk · pound · shower · wave · kid

  1. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  2. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  3. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  4. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  5. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  6. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  7. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  8. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  9. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  10. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  11. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  12. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  13. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  14. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  15. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  16. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  17. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  18. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  19. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  20. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  21. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  22. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  23. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  24. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.

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

Answer key

  1. rock — music
  2. shower — rain
  3. wave — a sudden rise
  4. row — a line
  5. kid — child
  6. kid — to tease
  7. trunk — of an elephant
  8. trunk — of a tree
  9. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  10. mine — an explosive
  11. row — a quarrel
  12. mine — belonging to me
  13. pound — a weight
  14. rock — a stone
  15. shower — to wash
  16. trunk — of a car
  17. mine — for digging
  18. rock — to move gently
  19. row — to paddle
  20. pound — for dogs
  21. wave — of the sea
  22. pound — to hit hard
  23. shower — a meteor shower
  24. wave — with your hand

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