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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: shower · deal · straw · patient · race · lean · ball · wake

  1. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  2. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  3. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  4. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  5. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  6. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  7. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  8. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  9. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  10. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  11. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  12. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  13. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  14. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  15. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  16. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  17. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  18. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  19. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  20. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  21. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  22. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  23. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  24. The King held a masked ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. deal — an agreement
  2. deal — a big deal
  3. wake — before a funeral
  4. lean — to rest against
  5. race — a contest
  6. straw — to clutch at straws
  7. patient — a sick person
  8. straw — a straw man
  9. deal — to handle
  10. shower — a meteor shower
  11. straw — dry grass
  12. wake — a trail
  13. patient — calm and waiting
  14. shower — to wash
  15. shower — rain
  16. lean — thin
  17. wake — to stop sleeping
  18. race — humankind
  19. ball — a great time
  20. patient — a sick person
  21. lean — to bend
  22. race — the arms race
  23. ball — a round shape
  24. ball — a dance

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