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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: shower · swing · tear · snap · wind · stick · craft · march

  1. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  2. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  3. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  4. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  5. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  6. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  7. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  8. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  9. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  10. David sat on the ________________.
  11. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  12. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  13. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  14. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  15. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  16. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  17. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  18. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  19. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  20. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  21. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  22. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  23. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  24. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to speak sharply
  2. craft — boats
  3. stick — a piece of wood
  4. craft — a skill
  5. snap — to click
  6. tear — to rip
  7. stick — to attach or keep to
  8. march — the month
  9. wind — moving air
  10. swing — to play on
  11. wind — moving air
  12. shower — rain
  13. snap — to snap out of it
  14. march — the month
  15. tear — from crying
  16. shower — a meteor shower
  17. shower — to wash
  18. swing — in golf
  19. craft — a handicraft
  20. march — music
  21. tear — from crying
  22. swing — music
  23. wind — to turn a key
  24. stick — a piece of wood

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