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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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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: ground · shower · last · can · squash · hand · cell · straw

  1. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  2. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  3. There's no middle ________________.
  4. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  5. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  6. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  7. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  8. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  9. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  10. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  11. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  12. False peace will not ________________.
  13. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  14. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  15. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  16. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  17. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  18. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  19. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  20. He was locked up in a ________________.
  21. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  22. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  23. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  24. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — to clutch at straws
  2. squash — the vegetable
  3. ground — a position
  4. hand — help
  5. shower — a meteor shower
  6. shower — rain
  7. straw — a straw man
  8. last — final
  9. ground — the earth
  10. shower — to wash
  11. squash — the sport
  12. last — to go on
  13. can — to be able to
  14. last — finally
  15. can — a tin
  16. squash — to crush
  17. straw — dry grass
  18. hand — in cards
  19. ground — crushed
  20. cell — in a prison
  21. can — a tin
  22. hand — part of the body
  23. cell — a phone
  24. cell — in biology

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