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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. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  2. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  7. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  8. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  9. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  10. Where did you ________________ them?
  11. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  12. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  13. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  14. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  15. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  16. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  17. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  18. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  19. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  20. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  21. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  22. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  23. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  24. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of a car
  2. shower — rain
  3. kid — to tease
  4. prune — to trim
  5. degree — an amount
  6. degree — temperature
  7. prune — to trim
  8. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  9. mug — a face
  10. mug — to rob
  11. craft — a handicraft
  12. kid — child
  13. prune — the fruit
  14. content — videos and posts
  15. content — the amount
  16. mug — a cup
  17. craft — a skill
  18. trunk — of a tree
  19. degree — from a university
  20. trunk — of an elephant
  21. craft — boats
  22. content — happy
  23. shower — to wash
  24. shower — a meteor shower

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