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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 · nail · foot · stem · pound · straw · game · staff

  1. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  2. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  3. That was a fun ________________.
  4. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  5. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  6. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  7. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  8. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  9. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  10. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  11. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  12. The ________________ went through the wall.
  13. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  14. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  15. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  16. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  17. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  18. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  19. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  20. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  21. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  22. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  23. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  24. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. staff — a stick
  2. pound — a weight
  3. game — a match
  4. foot — a measure
  5. straw — a straw man
  6. foot — the bottom
  7. nail — on a finger
  8. foot — part of the body
  9. shower — rain
  10. shower — to wash
  11. game — a kind of play
  12. nail — for a hammer
  13. stem — a stem cell
  14. stem — of a plant
  15. staff — employees
  16. straw — to clutch at straws
  17. pound — for dogs
  18. shower — a meteor shower
  19. nail — for a hammer
  20. staff — employees
  21. pound — to hit hard
  22. stem — to come from
  23. straw — dry grass
  24. game — wild animals

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