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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: shower · kid · staff · coach · tear · straw · ruler · bark

  1. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  2. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  3. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  4. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  5. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  6. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  7. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  8. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  9. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  10. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  11. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  12. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  13. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  14. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  15. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  16. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  17. Have you met the new head ________________?
  18. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  19. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  20. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  21. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  22. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  23. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  24. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.

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

Answer key

  1. ruler — a monarch
  2. kid — child
  3. staff — employees
  4. shower — a meteor shower
  5. kid — to tease
  6. ruler — for measuring
  7. shower — rain
  8. bark — of a tree
  9. straw — dry grass
  10. coach — pulled by horses
  11. straw — a straw man
  12. tear — from crying
  13. tear — from crying
  14. shower — to wash
  15. staff — a stick
  16. ruler — for measuring
  17. coach — a trainer
  18. straw — to clutch at straws
  19. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  20. coach — a trainer
  21. bark — a dog's sound
  22. staff — employees
  23. bark — to shout
  24. tear — to rip

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