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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: bass · mine · rash · hand · trunk · ruler · cold · jam

  1. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  2. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  3. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  4. Don't do anything ________________.
  5. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  9. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  10. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  11. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  12. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  13. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  14. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  15. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  16. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  17. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  18. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  19. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  22. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  23. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  24. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of a tree
  2. mine — an explosive
  3. ruler — for measuring
  4. rash — hasty
  5. hand — part of the body
  6. cold — not warm
  7. cold — an illness
  8. bass — low music
  9. jam — a tight spot
  10. rash — a series
  11. trunk — of an elephant
  12. ruler — a monarch
  13. bass — the fish
  14. jam — in traffic
  15. mine — for digging
  16. trunk — of a car
  17. bass — the instrument
  18. jam — to spread on bread
  19. hand — help
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. ruler — for measuring
  22. rash — on the skin
  23. hand — in cards
  24. mine — belonging to me

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