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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.

Words on the sheet
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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 · wound · hide · chest · fan · rash · wake · straw

  1. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  2. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  3. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  4. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  5. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  6. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  7. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  8. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  9. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  10. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  11. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  12. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  13. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  14. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  15. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  16. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  17. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  18. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  19. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  20. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  21. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  22. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  23. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  24. Don't do anything ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — animal skin
  2. wound — an injury
  3. rash — on the skin
  4. shower — rain
  5. chest — of your body
  6. straw — dry grass
  7. wake — a trail
  8. wake — before a funeral
  9. hide — to keep secret
  10. fan — to cool the air
  11. straw — a straw man
  12. shower — to wash
  13. fan — a supporter
  14. fan — a supporter
  15. chest — a box
  16. hide — to keep secret
  17. wake — to stop sleeping
  18. chest — of your body
  19. wound — an injury
  20. rash — a series
  21. wound — past of 'wind'
  22. shower — a meteor shower
  23. straw — to clutch at straws
  24. rash — hasty

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