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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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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: shower · roll · swing · charge · cold · bark · pound · chair

  1. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  2. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  3. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  4. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  7. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  10. We're on a ________________ here.
  11. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  12. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  13. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  14. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  15. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  16. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  17. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  18. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  21. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  22. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  23. The tickets are free of ________________.
  24. David sat on the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pound — to hit hard
  2. shower — to wash
  3. roll — a list
  4. swing — music
  5. cold — an illness
  6. chair — a leader
  7. pound — for dogs
  8. cold — not warm
  9. charge — electricity
  10. roll — on a roll
  11. shower — a meteor shower
  12. chair — to sit on
  13. shower — rain
  14. roll — a cake
  15. bark — of a tree
  16. charge — in control
  17. bark — a dog's sound
  18. pound — a weight
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. chair — a professorship
  21. bark — to shout
  22. swing — in golf
  23. charge — a price
  24. swing — to play on

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