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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: straw · object · shower · sharp · chest · ground · tube · staff

  1. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  2. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  3. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  4. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  5. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  6. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  7. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  8. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  9. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  10. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  11. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  12. There's no middle ________________.
  13. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  14. I'll be taking the ________________.
  15. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  16. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  17. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  18. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  19. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  20. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  21. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  22. It's one o'clock ________________.
  23. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  24. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — crushed
  2. shower — a meteor shower
  3. object — to protest
  4. shower — to wash
  5. tube — in a tire
  6. sharp — with an edge
  7. ground — the earth
  8. chest — of your body
  9. staff — employees
  10. shower — rain
  11. sharp — clever
  12. ground — a position
  13. object — an aim
  14. tube — the underground
  15. chest — of your body
  16. staff — employees
  17. straw — dry grass
  18. staff — a stick
  19. chest — a box
  20. object — a thing
  21. straw — a straw man
  22. sharp — exactly
  23. straw — to clutch at straws
  24. tube — a container

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