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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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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: shower · craft · kick · tear · court · straw · pitcher · press

  1. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  2. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  3. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  4. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  5. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  6. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  7. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  8. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  9. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  10. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  11. He is an ace ________________.
  12. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  13. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  14. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  15. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  16. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  17. Did you ________________ the button?
  18. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  19. The ball is in your ________________.
  20. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  21. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  22. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  23. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  24. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. craft — a handicraft
  2. kick — with a leg
  3. tear — from crying
  4. press — newspapers
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. tear — from crying
  7. straw — dry grass
  8. court — of law
  9. shower — a meteor shower
  10. press — a publisher
  11. pitcher — in baseball
  12. kick — in football
  13. shower — rain
  14. craft — a skill
  15. pitcher — a jug
  16. tear — to rip
  17. press — to push
  18. craft — boats
  19. court — for sport
  20. kick — a thrill
  21. straw — a straw man
  22. court — of a king
  23. shower — to wash
  24. straw — to clutch at straws

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