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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 116 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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  3. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  4. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  5. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  6. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  7. My mare is ________________ in color.
  8. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  9. It's one o'clock ________________.
  10. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  11. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  12. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  13. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  14. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  15. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  16. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  17. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  18. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  19. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  20. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  21. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  22. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  23. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  24. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. straw — dry grass
  3. bank — of a river
  4. sharp — with an edge
  5. shower — to wash
  6. kid — to tease
  7. bay — a horse colour
  8. band — a ring
  9. sharp — exactly
  10. band — a rubber band
  11. bay — a part of the sea
  12. shower — a meteor shower
  13. sharp — clever
  14. bay — to keep at bay
  15. bank — for money
  16. race — humankind
  17. bank — for money
  18. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  19. straw — a straw man
  20. band — a music group
  21. race — the arms race
  22. race — a contest
  23. shower — rain
  24. straw — to clutch at straws

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