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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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 · tear · scale · squash · saw · straw · game · shower

  1. That was a fun ________________.
  2. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  3. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  4. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  5. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  6. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  7. She's very handy with a ________________.
  8. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  9. He works in a ________________ mill.
  10. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  11. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  12. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  13. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  14. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  15. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  16. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  17. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  18. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  19. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  20. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  21. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  22. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  23. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  24. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a match
  2. scale — in music
  3. tear — from crying
  4. straw — a straw man
  5. tear — from crying
  6. squash — the vegetable
  7. saw — the tool
  8. drill — army training
  9. saw — the tool
  10. straw — dry grass
  11. game — a kind of play
  12. straw — to clutch at straws
  13. scale — for weighing
  14. drill — a practice
  15. game — wild animals
  16. shower — a meteor shower
  17. drill — the tool
  18. shower — to wash
  19. shower — rain
  20. scale — size or range
  21. squash — to crush
  22. squash — the sport
  23. tear — to rip
  24. saw — past of 'see'

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