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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: trunk · chest · roll · rash · rush · cell · shower · bank

  1. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  2. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  3. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  4. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  5. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  6. We're on a ________________ here.
  7. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  8. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  9. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  10. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  11. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  12. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  13. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  14. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  15. He was locked up in a ________________.
  16. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  17. Don't do anything ________________.
  18. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  19. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  20. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  21. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  22. That must've been a ________________.
  23. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  24. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. roll — a cake
  3. bank — for money
  4. rush — hurry
  5. bank — for money
  6. roll — on a roll
  7. shower — to wash
  8. chest — a box
  9. trunk — of a car
  10. chest — of your body
  11. cell — in biology
  12. rash — a series
  13. rush — to hurry
  14. rash — on the skin
  15. cell — in a prison
  16. trunk — of a tree
  17. rash — hasty
  18. trunk — of an elephant
  19. roll — a list
  20. shower — a meteor shower
  21. shower — rain
  22. rush — a thrill
  23. cell — a phone
  24. bank — of a river

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