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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: shower · wake · bowl · staff · straw · cell · net · row

  1. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  2. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  3. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  4. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  5. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  6. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  7. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  8. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  9. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  10. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  11. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  12. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  13. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  14. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  15. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  16. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  17. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  18. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  19. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  20. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  21. He was locked up in a ________________.
  22. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  23. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  24. We took cover from the thunder ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — a phone
  2. bowl — a football final
  3. net — for catching
  4. row — to paddle
  5. shower — a meteor shower
  6. wake — a trail
  7. row — a quarrel
  8. row — a line
  9. staff — employees
  10. staff — a stick
  11. wake — to stop sleeping
  12. straw — a straw man
  13. straw — to clutch at straws
  14. shower — to wash
  15. net — after costs
  16. wake — before a funeral
  17. straw — dry grass
  18. staff — employees
  19. net — in sport
  20. cell — in biology
  21. cell — in a prison
  22. bowl — to roll
  23. bowl — a dish
  24. shower — rain

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