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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: straw · present · mine · trunk · shower · wound · ball · rash

  1. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  2. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  3. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  4. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  5. The King held a masked ________________.
  6. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  7. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  8. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  9. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  10. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  11. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  12. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  13. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  14. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  15. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  16. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  17. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  18. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  19. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  20. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  21. Don't do anything ________________.
  22. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  23. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  24. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. present — a gift
  2. trunk — of an elephant
  3. ball — a great time
  4. ball — a round shape
  5. ball — a dance
  6. trunk — of a tree
  7. wound — an injury
  8. present — there
  9. rash — on the skin
  10. straw — to clutch at straws
  11. trunk — of a car
  12. shower — to wash
  13. shower — a meteor shower
  14. mine — belonging to me
  15. wound — an injury
  16. shower — rain
  17. present — the time now
  18. mine — for digging
  19. wound — past of 'wind'
  20. rash — a series
  21. rash — hasty
  22. mine — an explosive
  23. straw — a straw man
  24. straw — dry grass

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