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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.

Make a worksheet

Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

Words on the sheet
468
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: wind · jam · cue · shower · sharp · land · straw · mine

  1. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  2. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  3. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  4. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  5. When are we going to ________________?
  6. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  7. It's one o'clock ________________.
  8. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  9. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  10. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  11. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  12. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  13. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  14. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  15. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  16. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  17. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  18. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  19. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  20. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  21. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  22. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  23. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  24. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.

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

Answer key

  1. cue — a hint
  2. straw — to clutch at straws
  3. sharp — clever
  4. wind — to turn a key
  5. land — to come down
  6. shower — rain
  7. sharp — exactly
  8. straw — dry grass
  9. mine — for digging
  10. sharp — with an edge
  11. shower — to wash
  12. cue — a signal
  13. wind — moving air
  14. land — ground
  15. shower — a meteor shower
  16. jam — to spread on bread
  17. jam — a tight spot
  18. mine — an explosive
  19. cue — for pool
  20. wind — moving air
  21. land — a country
  22. jam — in traffic
  23. mine — belonging to me
  24. straw — a straw man

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