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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: chip · snap · straw · bank · capital · shower · pop · tear

  1. We're almost out of ________________.
  2. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  4. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  5. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  6. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  7. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  8. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  9. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  10. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  11. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  12. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  13. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  14. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  15. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  16. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  17. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  18. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  19. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  20. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  21. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  22. You don't need to ________________ round.
  23. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  24. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — soda
  2. capital — a city
  3. pop — music
  4. bank — for money
  5. tear — from crying
  6. chip — in a computer
  7. snap — to speak sharply
  8. straw — to clutch at straws
  9. capital — money
  10. snap — to snap out of it
  11. shower — a meteor shower
  12. straw — dry grass
  13. chip — for betting
  14. snap — to click
  15. chip — to eat
  16. shower — to wash
  17. bank — of a river
  18. capital — a big letter
  19. tear — to rip
  20. tear — from crying
  21. shower — rain
  22. pop — to visit
  23. straw — a straw man
  24. bank — for money

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