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

Word bank: bear · rule · cap · kid · straw · shower

  1. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  4. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  5. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  6. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  7. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  8. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  9. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  10. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  11. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  12. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  13. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  14. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  15. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  16. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  17. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  18. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. kid — to tease
  3. bear — to put up with
  4. cap — of ice
  5. straw — to clutch at straws
  6. rule — a law
  7. bear — the animal
  8. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  9. shower — rain
  10. bear — the animal
  11. straw — a straw man
  12. shower — to wash
  13. rule — government
  14. cap — a hat
  15. straw — dry grass
  16. shower — a meteor shower
  17. cap — a lid
  18. rule — to rule out

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