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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: shower · can · degree · branch · hand · pitcher · trunk · tube

  1. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  2. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  3. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  4. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  5. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  6. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  7. He is an ace ________________.
  8. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  9. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  10. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  11. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  12. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  13. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  14. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  15. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  16. I'll be taking the ________________.
  17. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  18. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  19. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  22. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  23. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  24. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?

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

Answer key

  1. tube — in a tire
  2. trunk — of an elephant
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. branch — of a bank
  5. branch — a division
  6. branch — of a tree
  7. pitcher — in baseball
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. degree — from a university
  10. trunk — of a tree
  11. shower — to wash
  12. shower — rain
  13. can — a tin
  14. hand — part of the body
  15. can — to be able to
  16. tube — the underground
  17. tube — a container
  18. hand — in cards
  19. shower — a meteor shower
  20. degree — temperature
  21. hand — help
  22. trunk — of a car
  23. can — a tin
  24. degree — an amount

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