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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: straw · rash · shower · board · tear · file · bat · plane

  1. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  2. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  3. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  4. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  5. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  6. The ________________ took off on time.
  7. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  8. Don't do anything ________________.
  9. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  10. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  11. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  12. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  13. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  14. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  15. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  16. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  17. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  18. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  19. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  20. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  21. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  22. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  24. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — a series
  2. straw — to clutch at straws
  3. plane — in geometry
  4. straw — a straw man
  5. bat — for baseball
  6. plane — an aircraft
  7. plane — a tool
  8. rash — hasty
  9. tear — from crying
  10. straw — dry grass
  11. tear — to rip
  12. rash — on the skin
  13. shower — rain
  14. board — a committee
  15. file — a line of people
  16. shower — to wash
  17. board — to get on
  18. file — a tool
  19. tear — from crying
  20. bat — in an idiom
  21. shower — a meteor shower
  22. board — a flat piece
  23. bat — the animal
  24. file — a document

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