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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: kick · fan · shower · coach · game · straw · wax · wound

  1. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  2. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  3. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  4. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  5. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  6. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  7. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  8. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  9. That was a fun ________________.
  10. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  11. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  12. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  13. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  14. Have you met the new head ________________?
  15. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  16. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  17. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  18. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  19. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  20. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  21. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  22. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  23. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  24. The moon will ________________ and wane.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a kind of play
  2. game — wild animals
  3. wax — in the ear
  4. kick — in football
  5. straw — to clutch at straws
  6. shower — rain
  7. shower — to wash
  8. wound — past of 'wind'
  9. game — a match
  10. wound — an injury
  11. straw — a straw man
  12. shower — a meteor shower
  13. fan — a supporter
  14. coach — a trainer
  15. coach — a trainer
  16. straw — dry grass
  17. fan — to cool the air
  18. wax — for sculpting
  19. wound — an injury
  20. coach — pulled by horses
  21. kick — with a leg
  22. kick — a thrill
  23. fan — a supporter
  24. wax — to grow

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