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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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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: bass · tear · shower · kick · trunk · bat

  1. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  2. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  3. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  4. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  5. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  6. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  7. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  8. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  9. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  10. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  11. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  12. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  13. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  14. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  15. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  16. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  17. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  18. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — rain
  2. bass — low music
  3. kick — a thrill
  4. bat — in an idiom
  5. trunk — of a car
  6. bat — the animal
  7. shower — a meteor shower
  8. kick — in football
  9. bat — for baseball
  10. shower — to wash
  11. tear — from crying
  12. kick — with a leg
  13. tear — to rip
  14. trunk — of an elephant
  15. bass — the instrument
  16. bass — the fish
  17. tear — from crying
  18. trunk — of a tree

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