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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. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  2. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  3. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  4. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  5. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  6. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  7. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  8. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  9. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  10. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  11. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  12. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  13. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  14. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  15. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  16. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  17. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  18. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  19. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  20. That was ________________ to happen.
  21. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  22. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  23. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  24. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — rain
  2. hand — part of the body
  3. straw — to clutch at straws
  4. scale — in music
  5. shower — a meteor shower
  6. perch — for a bird
  7. straw — a straw man
  8. hand — help
  9. hand — in cards
  10. wound — an injury
  11. perch — for a bird
  12. scale — size or range
  13. bound — obliged
  14. scale — for weighing
  15. wound — an injury
  16. straw — dry grass
  17. wound — past of 'wind'
  18. perch — the fish
  19. capital — a city
  20. bound — certain
  21. bound — tied together
  22. capital — money
  23. shower — to wash
  24. capital — a big letter

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