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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.

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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: shower · rash · calf · snap · trunk · pop · pitcher · branch

  1. Don't do anything ________________.
  2. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  3. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  4. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  5. He is an ace ________________.
  6. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  7. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  8. You don't need to ________________ round.
  9. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  10. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  11. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  12. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  13. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  14. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  15. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  16. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  17. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  18. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  19. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  20. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  21. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  22. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  23. We're almost out of ________________.
  24. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — hasty
  2. calf — a young animal
  3. calf — a young animal
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. pitcher — in baseball
  6. calf — of the leg
  7. trunk — of an elephant
  8. pop — to visit
  9. branch — a division
  10. pitcher — a jug
  11. snap — to click
  12. snap — to speak sharply
  13. branch — of a bank
  14. trunk — of a car
  15. shower — a meteor shower
  16. shower — rain
  17. trunk — of a tree
  18. shower — to wash
  19. branch — of a tree
  20. rash — on the skin
  21. pop — music
  22. snap — to snap out of it
  23. pop — soda
  24. rash — a series

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