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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 116 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. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  2. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  3. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  4. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  5. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  6. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  7. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  8. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  9. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  10. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  11. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  12. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  13. False peace will not ________________.
  14. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  15. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  16. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  17. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  18. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  19. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  20. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  21. That must've been a ________________.
  22. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  24. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of a car
  2. band — a rubber band
  3. leaves — to go away
  4. root — the cause
  5. leaves — lets stay
  6. shower — to wash
  7. band — a music group
  8. rush — hurry
  9. last — finally
  10. trunk — of a tree
  11. trunk — of an elephant
  12. bat — for baseball
  13. last — to go on
  14. leaves — of a tree
  15. band — a ring
  16. shower — a meteor shower
  17. rush — to hurry
  18. shower — rain
  19. bat — in an idiom
  20. root — of a word
  21. rush — a thrill
  22. last — final
  23. bat — the animal
  24. root — of a plant

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