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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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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: bank · shower · tube · last · kid · straw · rash · bay

  1. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  2. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  3. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  4. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  5. My mare is ________________ in color.
  6. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  7. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  8. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  9. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  10. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  11. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  12. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  13. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  14. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  15. False peace will not ________________.
  16. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  17. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  18. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  19. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  20. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  21. Don't do anything ________________.
  22. I'll be taking the ________________.
  23. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  24. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — to clutch at straws
  2. tube — in a tire
  3. bank — for money
  4. straw — dry grass
  5. bay — a horse colour
  6. kid — to tease
  7. bank — for money
  8. tube — a container
  9. shower — rain
  10. last — final
  11. straw — a straw man
  12. bank — of a river
  13. shower — to wash
  14. bay — to keep at bay
  15. last — to go on
  16. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  17. rash — on the skin
  18. kid — child
  19. last — finally
  20. bay — a part of the sea
  21. rash — hasty
  22. tube — the underground
  23. shower — a meteor shower
  24. rash — a series

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