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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 116 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: wind · bass · wake · ruler · straw · board · bat · shower

  1. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  2. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  3. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  4. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  5. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  6. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  7. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  8. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  9. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  10. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  11. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  12. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  13. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  14. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  15. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  16. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  17. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  18. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  19. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  20. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  21. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  22. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — to stop sleeping
  2. ruler — a monarch
  3. wind — to turn a key
  4. wind — moving air
  5. bat — the animal
  6. wake — a trail
  7. straw — a straw man
  8. board — a committee
  9. shower — rain
  10. straw — to clutch at straws
  11. ruler — for measuring
  12. bat — for baseball
  13. bass — the instrument
  14. shower — to wash
  15. bass — low music
  16. straw — dry grass
  17. wake — before a funeral
  18. board — to get on
  19. ruler — for measuring
  20. bass — the fish
  21. board — a flat piece
  22. shower — a meteor shower
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. wind — moving air

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