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

  1. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  2. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  3. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  4. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  5. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  6. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  7. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  8. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  9. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  10. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  11. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  12. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  13. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  14. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  15. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  16. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  17. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  18. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  19. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  20. That must've been a ________________.
  21. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  22. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  23. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  24. I've got the luggage in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — hurry
  2. hand — in cards
  3. shower — a meteor shower
  4. chest — a box
  5. rush — to hurry
  6. trunk — of a tree
  7. trunk — of an elephant
  8. band — a ring
  9. racket — a loud noise
  10. racket — for tennis
  11. band — a rubber band
  12. racket — for tennis
  13. straw — a straw man
  14. straw — dry grass
  15. chest — of your body
  16. shower — rain
  17. hand — part of the body
  18. hand — help
  19. band — a music group
  20. rush — a thrill
  21. shower — to wash
  22. chest — of your body
  23. straw — to clutch at straws
  24. trunk — of a car

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