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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 120 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: lean · cell · straw · shower · spell · fall · bay · hand

  1. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  3. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  4. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  5. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  6. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  7. My mare is ________________ in color.
  8. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  9. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  10. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  11. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  12. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  13. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  14. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  15. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  16. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  17. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  18. He was locked up in a ________________.
  19. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  20. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  21. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  22. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  23. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  24. How do you ________________ your surname?

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

Answer key

  1. hand — help
  2. hand — in cards
  3. hand — part of the body
  4. spell — a short time
  5. lean — to bend
  6. spell — magic
  7. bay — a horse colour
  8. lean — thin
  9. fall — to drop
  10. lean — to rest against
  11. cell — a phone
  12. shower — rain
  13. cell — in biology
  14. bay — to keep at bay
  15. shower — to wash
  16. bay — a part of the sea
  17. straw — a straw man
  18. cell — in a prison
  19. fall — the season
  20. fall — to drop
  21. straw — dry grass
  22. shower — a meteor shower
  23. straw — to clutch at straws
  24. spell — letters

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