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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 · date · shower · chip · chest · last

  1. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  2. Have you settled on a ________________?
  3. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  4. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  5. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  6. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  7. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  8. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  9. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  10. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  11. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  12. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  13. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  14. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  15. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  16. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  17. False peace will not ________________.
  18. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.

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

Answer key

  1. chip — to eat
  2. date — on the calendar
  3. last — finally
  4. chip — for betting
  5. shower — rain
  6. last — final
  7. straw — dry grass
  8. chest — of your body
  9. straw — a straw man
  10. chip — in a computer
  11. shower — a meteor shower
  12. straw — to clutch at straws
  13. date — on the calendar
  14. shower — to wash
  15. chest — a box
  16. date — the fruit
  17. last — to go on
  18. chest — of your body

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