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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: game · rule · spring · shower · ground · saw · date · trunk

  1. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  2. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  3. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  4. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  5. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  6. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  7. That was a fun ________________.
  8. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  9. There's no middle ________________.
  10. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  11. She's very handy with a ________________.
  12. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  13. He works in a ________________ mill.
  14. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  15. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  16. Have you settled on a ________________?
  17. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  18. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  19. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  20. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  21. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  22. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  23. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  24. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of an elephant
  2. date — on the calendar
  3. shower — rain
  4. spring — a coil
  5. game — wild animals
  6. trunk — of a car
  7. game — a match
  8. trunk — of a tree
  9. ground — a position
  10. rule — to rule out
  11. saw — the tool
  12. date — the fruit
  13. saw — the tool
  14. ground — crushed
  15. spring — the season
  16. date — on the calendar
  17. spring — of water
  18. game — a kind of play
  19. shower — a meteor shower
  20. saw — past of 'see'
  21. shower — to wash
  22. rule — a law
  23. rule — government
  24. ground — the earth

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