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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 · bark · shower · lean · drill · wind · toast · season

  1. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  2. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  3. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  4. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  5. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  6. Did you ________________ the meat?
  7. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  8. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  9. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  10. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  11. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  12. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  13. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  14. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  15. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  16. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  17. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  18. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  19. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  20. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  21. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  22. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  23. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  24. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.

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

Answer key

  1. season — of the year
  2. toast — a drink to someone
  3. wind — to turn a key
  4. straw — dry grass
  5. bark — of a tree
  6. season — to add flavour
  7. lean — to rest against
  8. lean — thin
  9. wind — moving air
  10. toast — bread
  11. lean — to bend
  12. shower — rain
  13. straw — to clutch at straws
  14. drill — a practice
  15. season — in sport
  16. bark — a dog's sound
  17. toast — the most admired
  18. shower — a meteor shower
  19. wind — moving air
  20. straw — a straw man
  21. bark — to shout
  22. shower — to wash
  23. drill — army training
  24. drill — the tool

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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