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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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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: key · bank · shower · kid · cap · deal · object · bat

  1. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  2. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  3. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  4. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  5. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  6. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  7. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  8. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  9. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  10. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  11. This piece is in a major ________________.
  12. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  15. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  16. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  17. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  19. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  20. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  21. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  22. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  23. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  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. deal — a big deal
  2. cap — a hat
  3. object — an aim
  4. bat — in an idiom
  5. cap — of ice
  6. object — to protest
  7. cap — a lid
  8. kid — child
  9. bank — for money
  10. object — a thing
  11. key — in music
  12. kid — to tease
  13. bat — the animal
  14. shower — a meteor shower
  15. key — for a lock
  16. key — the most important part
  17. bank — for money
  18. bat — for baseball
  19. bank — of a river
  20. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  21. deal — to handle
  22. shower — to wash
  23. deal — an agreement
  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