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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: bay · game · chest · trunk · last · mate · clip · shower

  1. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  2. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  3. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  4. That was a fun ________________.
  5. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  6. My mare is ________________ in color.
  7. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  8. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  9. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  10. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  11. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  12. False peace will not ________________.
  13. Have you found your soul ________________?
  14. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  18. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  19. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  20. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  21. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  24. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — a box
  2. shower — rain
  3. shower — a meteor shower
  4. game — a match
  5. game — a kind of play
  6. bay — a horse colour
  7. shower — to wash
  8. last — final
  9. trunk — of an elephant
  10. chest — of your body
  11. last — finally
  12. last — to go on
  13. mate — a partner
  14. chest — of your body
  15. clip — to cut
  16. clip — a video
  17. mate — a friend
  18. trunk — of a tree
  19. trunk — of a car
  20. bay — to keep at bay
  21. mate — to breed
  22. clip — for paper
  23. bay — a part of the sea
  24. game — wild animals

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