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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.

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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: rule · kid · shower · straw · season · racket · band · mine

  1. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  4. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  5. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  6. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  7. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  8. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  9. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  10. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  11. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  12. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  13. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  14. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  15. Did you ________________ the meat?
  16. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  17. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  18. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  19. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  20. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  21. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  22. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  23. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  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. mine — for digging
  2. kid — to tease
  3. shower — a meteor shower
  4. mine — belonging to me
  5. racket — for tennis
  6. rule — a law
  7. straw — to clutch at straws
  8. shower — to wash
  9. straw — dry grass
  10. band — a rubber band
  11. straw — a straw man
  12. season — of the year
  13. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  14. racket — for tennis
  15. season — to add flavour
  16. band — a ring
  17. racket — a loud noise
  18. kid — child
  19. shower — rain
  20. band — a music group
  21. rule — to rule out
  22. season — in sport
  23. rule — government
  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