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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: tear · key · stock · shower · rash · straw · snap · wave

  1. Don't do anything ________________.
  2. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  3. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  4. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  5. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  6. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  7. The ________________ market has crashed.
  8. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  9. This piece is in a major ________________.
  10. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  11. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  12. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  13. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  14. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  15. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  16. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  17. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  18. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  19. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  20. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  21. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  22. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  23. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  24. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — hasty
  2. key — the most important part
  3. stock — goods
  4. rash — a series
  5. snap — to snap out of it
  6. straw — a straw man
  7. stock — shares
  8. stock — a soup base
  9. key — in music
  10. tear — from crying
  11. straw — dry grass
  12. tear — from crying
  13. snap — to click
  14. rash — on the skin
  15. shower — a meteor shower
  16. straw — to clutch at straws
  17. shower — rain
  18. shower — to wash
  19. wave — a sudden rise
  20. tear — to rip
  21. wave — with your hand
  22. key — for a lock
  23. wave — of the sea
  24. snap — to speak sharply

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