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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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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

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

Word bank: degree · cell · trunk · cap · shower · hide

  1. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  2. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  3. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  4. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  5. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  6. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  7. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  10. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  11. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  12. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  13. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  14. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  15. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  16. He was locked up in a ________________.
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. We took cover from the thunder ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of an elephant
  2. hide — to keep secret
  3. cell — a phone
  4. shower — a meteor shower
  5. hide — to keep secret
  6. cap — of ice
  7. trunk — of a tree
  8. degree — from a university
  9. degree — an amount
  10. cap — a lid
  11. hide — animal skin
  12. cap — a hat
  13. trunk — of a car
  14. shower — to wash
  15. cell — in biology
  16. cell — in a prison
  17. degree — temperature
  18. shower — rain

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