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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 · swing · court · last · leaves · vault · shower · tear

  1. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  2. False peace will not ________________.
  3. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  4. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  5. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  6. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  7. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  8. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  9. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  10. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  11. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  12. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  13. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  14. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  15. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  16. David sat on the ________________.
  17. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  18. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  19. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  20. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  21. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  22. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  23. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  24. The ball is in your ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. leaves — to go away
  2. last — to go on
  3. tear — from crying
  4. swing — music
  5. vault — a safe
  6. last — final
  7. tear — from crying
  8. court — of law
  9. leaves — of a tree
  10. trunk — of an elephant
  11. trunk — of a car
  12. leaves — lets stay
  13. trunk — of a tree
  14. vault — in gymnastics
  15. shower — to wash
  16. swing — to play on
  17. court — of a king
  18. last — finally
  19. swing — in golf
  20. vault — an arched ceiling
  21. shower — a meteor shower
  22. tear — to rip
  23. shower — rain
  24. court — for sport

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