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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: straw · bank · mine · hand · last · bass · bat · shower

  1. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  2. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  3. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  4. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  5. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  6. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  7. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  8. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  11. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  12. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  13. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  14. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  15. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  16. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  17. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  18. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  19. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  20. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  21. False peace will not ________________.
  22. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  23. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  24. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bank — for money
  2. bat — in an idiom
  3. bass — low music
  4. mine — belonging to me
  5. last — finally
  6. hand — in cards
  7. hand — part of the body
  8. shower — to wash
  9. bat — the animal
  10. hand — help
  11. straw — to clutch at straws
  12. bat — for baseball
  13. shower — rain
  14. bass — the fish
  15. straw — dry grass
  16. straw — a straw man
  17. shower — a meteor shower
  18. bass — the instrument
  19. last — final
  20. mine — for digging
  21. last — to go on
  22. bank — for money
  23. mine — an explosive
  24. bank — of a river

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