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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 116 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: perch · drill · straw · branch · vault · kid · shower · hand

  1. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  2. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  3. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  4. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  5. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  6. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  7. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  8. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  9. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  10. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  11. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  12. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  13. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  14. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  15. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  16. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  17. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  18. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  19. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  20. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  21. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  22. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  23. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  24. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.

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

Answer key

  1. vault — an arched ceiling
  2. drill — army training
  3. hand — in cards
  4. drill — the tool
  5. straw — dry grass
  6. vault — in gymnastics
  7. kid — to tease
  8. straw — to clutch at straws
  9. vault — a safe
  10. shower — a meteor shower
  11. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  12. hand — part of the body
  13. straw — a straw man
  14. perch — for a bird
  15. kid — child
  16. drill — a practice
  17. shower — rain
  18. shower — to wash
  19. hand — help
  20. perch — the fish
  21. branch — of a tree
  22. branch — a division
  23. perch — for a bird
  24. branch — of a bank

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