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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.

Make a worksheet

Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

Words on the sheet
468
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: trunk · cold · pitcher · drill · can · patient

  1. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  2. He is an ace ________________.
  3. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  4. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  5. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  8. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  9. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  10. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  14. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  15. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  16. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  17. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  18. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of an elephant
  2. pitcher — in baseball
  3. trunk — of a car
  4. can — to be able to
  5. drill — a practice
  6. cold — an illness
  7. pitcher — a jug
  8. patient — calm and waiting
  9. patient — a sick person
  10. can — a tin
  11. cold — not warm
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. patient — a sick person
  14. can — a tin
  15. pitcher — a jug
  16. trunk — of a tree
  17. drill — army training
  18. drill — the tool

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