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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 · mine · fall · scale · mate · straw · land · can

  1. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  2. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  3. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  4. When are we going to ________________?
  5. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  6. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  7. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  8. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  9. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  10. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  11. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  12. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  13. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  14. Have you found your soul ________________?
  15. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  16. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  17. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  18. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  19. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  20. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  21. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  22. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  23. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  24. He was blown up by a land ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — a straw man
  2. mate — a friend
  3. fall — the season
  4. land — to come down
  5. scale — for weighing
  6. fall — to drop
  7. mine — belonging to me
  8. land — a country
  9. shower — to wash
  10. mate — to breed
  11. scale — in music
  12. straw — to clutch at straws
  13. shower — rain
  14. mate — a partner
  15. scale — size or range
  16. land — ground
  17. mine — for digging
  18. shower — a meteor shower
  19. can — a tin
  20. can — a tin
  21. fall — to drop
  22. can — to be able to
  23. straw — dry grass
  24. mine — an explosive

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