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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 120 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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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 · rest · tear · current · straw · chest · content · trunk

  1. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  2. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  3. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  4. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  5. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  6. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  7. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  8. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  9. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  10. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  11. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  12. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  13. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  14. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  15. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  16. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  17. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  18. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  19. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  20. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  21. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  22. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  23. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  24. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. rest — what's left
  3. content — videos and posts
  4. current — happening now
  5. current — of water
  6. content — the amount
  7. current — electric
  8. straw — dry grass
  9. tear — to rip
  10. tear — from crying
  11. chest — of your body
  12. shower — rain
  13. trunk — of an elephant
  14. chest — a box
  15. trunk — of a tree
  16. straw — a straw man
  17. rest — a break
  18. content — happy
  19. chest — of your body
  20. shower — to wash
  21. trunk — of a car
  22. straw — to clutch at straws
  23. shower — a meteor shower
  24. rest — what's left

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