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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.

Words on the sheet
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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: hand · straw · nail · bowl · wound · row · fall · mine

  1. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  2. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  3. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  4. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  5. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  6. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  7. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  8. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  9. The ________________ went through the wall.
  10. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  11. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  12. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  13. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  14. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  15. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  16. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  17. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  18. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  19. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  20. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  21. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  22. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  23. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  24. He was blown up by a land ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — to roll
  2. nail — on a finger
  3. row — a line
  4. hand — help
  5. bowl — a football final
  6. straw — to clutch at straws
  7. wound — an injury
  8. fall — to drop
  9. nail — for a hammer
  10. nail — for a hammer
  11. mine — belonging to me
  12. fall — the season
  13. row — a quarrel
  14. fall — to drop
  15. wound — past of 'wind'
  16. mine — for digging
  17. wound — an injury
  18. row — to paddle
  19. hand — in cards
  20. straw — dry grass
  21. straw — a straw man
  22. hand — part of the body
  23. bowl — a dish
  24. mine — an explosive

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