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

  1. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  2. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  3. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  4. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  5. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  6. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  7. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  8. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  9. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  10. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  11. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  12. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  13. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  14. The ________________ went through the wall.
  15. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  16. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  17. He is an ace ________________.
  18. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  19. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  20. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  21. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  22. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  23. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  24. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — a meteor shower
  2. march — music
  3. snap — to click
  4. branch — of a bank
  5. branch — a division
  6. nail — on a finger
  7. pitcher — a jug
  8. hand — part of the body
  9. hand — in cards
  10. branch — of a tree
  11. straw — to clutch at straws
  12. hand — help
  13. march — the month
  14. nail — for a hammer
  15. shower — rain
  16. pitcher — a jug
  17. pitcher — in baseball
  18. straw — a straw man
  19. march — the month
  20. nail — for a hammer
  21. snap — to speak sharply
  22. shower — to wash
  23. straw — dry grass
  24. snap — to snap out of it

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