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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: shower · straw · file · mate · wave · mine · toast · face

  1. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  2. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  3. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  4. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  5. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  6. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  7. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  8. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  9. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  10. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  11. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  12. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  13. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  14. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  15. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  16. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  17. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  18. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  19. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  20. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  21. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  22. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  23. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  24. Have you found your soul ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. toast — a drink to someone
  2. file — a line of people
  3. mine — for digging
  4. shower — to wash
  5. straw — a straw man
  6. shower — a meteor shower
  7. wave — of the sea
  8. mate — to breed
  9. mine — an explosive
  10. wave — a sudden rise
  11. file — a tool
  12. mine — belonging to me
  13. shower — rain
  14. file — a document
  15. mate — a friend
  16. straw — to clutch at straws
  17. face — to confront
  18. face — part of the head
  19. toast — bread
  20. face — to point toward
  21. toast — the most admired
  22. straw — dry grass
  23. wave — with your hand
  24. mate — a partner

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