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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. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  2. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  3. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  4. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  5. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  6. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  7. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  8. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  9. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  10. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  11. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  12. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  13. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  14. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  15. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  16. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  17. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  18. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  19. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  20. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  21. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  22. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  23. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  24. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of a car
  2. bank — for money
  3. shower — rain
  4. file — a document
  5. hand — in cards
  6. perch — the fish
  7. stem — a stem cell
  8. file — a tool
  9. bank — of a river
  10. stem — to come from
  11. track — to keep track
  12. trunk — of an elephant
  13. stem — of a plant
  14. shower — a meteor shower
  15. shower — to wash
  16. hand — help
  17. bank — for money
  18. track — a path
  19. track — a song
  20. perch — for a bird
  21. hand — part of the body
  22. trunk — of a tree
  23. file — a line of people
  24. perch — for a bird

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