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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.

Make a worksheet

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
468
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: shower · can · bowl · kid · straw · rash · drill · land

  1. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. Don't do anything ________________.
  3. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  4. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  5. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  6. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  7. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  8. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  9. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  10. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  11. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  12. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  13. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  14. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  15. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  16. When are we going to ________________?
  17. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  18. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  19. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  20. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  21. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  22. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  23. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  24. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. rash — hasty
  3. drill — the tool
  4. land — a country
  5. can — a tin
  6. bowl — to roll
  7. drill — army training
  8. rash — on the skin
  9. rash — a series
  10. straw — dry grass
  11. can — to be able to
  12. land — ground
  13. drill — a practice
  14. can — a tin
  15. bowl — a football final
  16. land — to come down
  17. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  18. straw — to clutch at straws
  19. kid — child
  20. shower — a meteor shower
  21. shower — rain
  22. shower — to wash
  23. bowl — a dish
  24. straw — a straw man

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