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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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Word bank
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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: straw · sharp · spell · net · shower · leaves

  1. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  2. How do you ________________ your surname?
  3. It's one o'clock ________________.
  4. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  5. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  6. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  7. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  8. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  9. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  10. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  11. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  12. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  13. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  14. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  15. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  16. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  17. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  18. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.

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

Answer key

  1. leaves — to go away
  2. spell — letters
  3. sharp — exactly
  4. leaves — lets stay
  5. net — after costs
  6. sharp — clever
  7. net — for catching
  8. leaves — of a tree
  9. spell — magic
  10. shower — rain
  11. sharp — with an edge
  12. shower — to wash
  13. straw — dry grass
  14. straw — a straw man
  15. straw — to clutch at straws
  16. shower — a meteor shower
  17. net — in sport
  18. spell — a short time

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