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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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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. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  2. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  3. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  4. There's no middle ________________.
  5. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  6. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  7. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  8. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  9. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  12. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  13. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  14. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  15. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  16. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  17. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  18. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  19. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  20. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  21. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  22. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  23. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  24. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — the animal
  2. shower — to wash
  3. bank — of a river
  4. ground — a position
  5. band — a ring
  6. straw — dry grass
  7. bat — for baseball
  8. shower — a meteor shower
  9. bank — for money
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. ground — the earth
  12. band — a music group
  13. straw — to clutch at straws
  14. hide — animal skin
  15. band — a rubber band
  16. shower — rain
  17. ground — crushed
  18. hide — to keep secret
  19. present — a gift
  20. bank — for money
  21. hide — to keep secret
  22. present — there
  23. straw — a straw man
  24. present — the time now

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