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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: cue · bat · straw · hand · foot · shower · bank · game

  1. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  2. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  3. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  4. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  5. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  6. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  7. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  8. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  9. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  10. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  11. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  12. That was a fun ________________.
  13. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  14. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  15. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  16. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  17. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  18. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  19. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  20. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  21. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  24. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — the animal
  2. cue — a hint
  3. cue — a signal
  4. straw — dry grass
  5. foot — a measure
  6. foot — part of the body
  7. game — a kind of play
  8. straw — to clutch at straws
  9. bank — for money
  10. bat — for baseball
  11. straw — a straw man
  12. game — a match
  13. hand — part of the body
  14. shower — rain
  15. shower — to wash
  16. shower — a meteor shower
  17. game — wild animals
  18. hand — help
  19. bank — of a river
  20. bank — for money
  21. cue — for pool
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. hand — in cards
  24. foot — the bottom

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