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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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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 · foot · can · spring · mine · band · trunk · bore

  1. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  2. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  3. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  4. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  5. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  6. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  7. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  8. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  9. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  10. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  11. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  12. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  13. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  14. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  15. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  16. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  17. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  18. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  19. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  20. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  21. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  22. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  23. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  24. The elephant has a huge ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. foot — a measure
  2. spring — a coil
  3. mine — for digging
  4. can — a tin
  5. shower — to wash
  6. shower — rain
  7. bore — gave birth
  8. bore — to drill
  9. bore — to tire
  10. band — a ring
  11. foot — the bottom
  12. trunk — of a tree
  13. band — a music group
  14. can — to be able to
  15. foot — part of the body
  16. mine — an explosive
  17. shower — a meteor shower
  18. mine — belonging to me
  19. trunk — of a car
  20. can — a tin
  21. band — a rubber band
  22. spring — the season
  23. spring — of water
  24. trunk — of an elephant

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