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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 120 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: lash · bank · fall · shower · drill · ground · kid · straw

  1. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  3. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  4. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  5. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  6. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  7. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  8. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  9. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  10. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  11. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  12. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  13. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  14. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  15. There's no middle ________________.
  16. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  17. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  18. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  19. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  20. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  21. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  22. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  23. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  24. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. lash — a whip stroke
  3. drill — the tool
  4. shower — a meteor shower
  5. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  6. ground — crushed
  7. lash — an eyelash
  8. bank — for money
  9. straw — a straw man
  10. shower — to wash
  11. lash — to lash out
  12. fall — to drop
  13. ground — the earth
  14. fall — to drop
  15. ground — a position
  16. straw — to clutch at straws
  17. drill — army training
  18. straw — dry grass
  19. bank — for money
  20. drill — a practice
  21. shower — rain
  22. fall — the season
  23. bank — of a river
  24. kid — to tease

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