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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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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  3. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  4. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  5. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  6. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  7. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  8. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  9. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  10. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  11. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  12. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  13. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  14. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  15. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  16. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  17. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  18. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  19. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  20. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  21. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  22. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  23. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  24. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. content — the amount
  3. trunk — of a tree
  4. trunk — of a car
  5. staff — a stick
  6. staff — employees
  7. tear — from crying
  8. shower — a meteor shower
  9. trunk — of an elephant
  10. spring — a coil
  11. content — videos and posts
  12. spring — of water
  13. shower — rain
  14. content — happy
  15. wound — an injury
  16. wound — an injury
  17. spring — the season
  18. rest — a break
  19. rest — what's left
  20. staff — employees
  21. tear — from crying
  22. tear — to rip
  23. wound — past of 'wind'
  24. rest — what's left

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