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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: safe · stock · kick · shower · wind · straw · net · band

  1. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  2. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  3. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  4. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  5. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  6. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  7. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  8. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  9. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  10. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  11. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  12. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  13. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  14. The ________________ market has crashed.
  15. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  16. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  17. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  18. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  19. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  20. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  21. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  22. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  23. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  24. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. band — a music group
  3. wind — to turn a key
  4. band — a rubber band
  5. net — after costs
  6. stock — goods
  7. safe — a strongbox
  8. straw — dry grass
  9. kick — with a leg
  10. band — a ring
  11. straw — a straw man
  12. stock — a soup base
  13. kick — in football
  14. stock — shares
  15. kick — a thrill
  16. safe — out of danger
  17. wind — moving air
  18. straw — to clutch at straws
  19. net — in sport
  20. shower — to wash
  21. safe — out of danger
  22. net — for catching
  23. shower — rain
  24. shower — a meteor shower

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