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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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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: drill · pop · capital · straw · bat · shower · bear · track

  1. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  2. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  3. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  4. You don't need to ________________ round.
  5. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  6. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  7. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  8. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  9. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  10. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  11. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  12. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  13. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  16. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  17. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  18. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  19. We're almost out of ________________.
  20. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  21. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  22. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  23. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  24. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — dry grass
  2. pop — music
  3. capital — money
  4. pop — to visit
  5. shower — rain
  6. straw — to clutch at straws
  7. drill — the tool
  8. track — a path
  9. shower — to wash
  10. bear — to put up with
  11. capital — a city
  12. drill — a practice
  13. bear — the animal
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. track — to keep track
  16. shower — a meteor shower
  17. straw — a straw man
  18. drill — army training
  19. pop — soda
  20. bat — for baseball
  21. bear — the animal
  22. bat — the animal
  23. track — a song
  24. capital — a big letter

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