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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: mate · clip · hide · shower · tear · drill · trunk · court

  1. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  2. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  3. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  4. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  5. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  6. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. The ball is in your ________________.
  9. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  12. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  13. Have you found your soul ________________?
  14. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  15. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  18. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  19. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  20. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  21. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  22. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  23. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  24. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?

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

Answer key

  1. tear — to rip
  2. trunk — of an elephant
  3. shower — a meteor shower
  4. trunk — of a tree
  5. drill — a practice
  6. trunk — of a car
  7. clip — for paper
  8. court — for sport
  9. hide — to keep secret
  10. clip — a video
  11. court — of law
  12. tear — from crying
  13. mate — a partner
  14. hide — to keep secret
  15. court — of a king
  16. clip — to cut
  17. shower — to wash
  18. shower — rain
  19. drill — the tool
  20. mate — to breed
  21. tear — from crying
  22. hide — animal skin
  23. drill — army training
  24. mate — a friend

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