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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 · hand · degree · race · lie · straw · bat · cabinet

  1. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  2. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  3. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  4. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  5. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  6. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  7. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  8. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  9. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  10. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  11. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  12. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  13. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  14. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  15. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  16. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  17. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  18. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  19. What do you think of the new ________________?
  20. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  21. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  24. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.

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

Answer key

  1. race — humankind
  2. shower — a meteor shower
  3. bat — in an idiom
  4. race — the arms race
  5. race — a contest
  6. straw — dry grass
  7. degree — an amount
  8. bat — for baseball
  9. straw — a straw man
  10. lie — an untruth
  11. lie — to recline
  12. shower — to wash
  13. hand — part of the body
  14. cabinet — a cupboard
  15. bat — the animal
  16. lie — an untruth
  17. straw — to clutch at straws
  18. hand — help
  19. cabinet — ministers
  20. hand — in cards
  21. cabinet — ministers
  22. degree — temperature
  23. shower — rain
  24. degree — from a university

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