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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 · band · jam · pitcher · degree · craft · shower · cold

  1. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  3. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  4. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  5. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  6. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  7. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  10. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  11. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  12. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. He is an ace ________________.
  15. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  16. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  19. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  20. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  21. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  22. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  23. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. jam — to spread on bread
  3. trunk — of a car
  4. trunk — of an elephant
  5. craft — a handicraft
  6. jam — a tight spot
  7. craft — boats
  8. degree — from a university
  9. band — a music group
  10. band — a rubber band
  11. jam — in traffic
  12. shower — to wash
  13. degree — temperature
  14. pitcher — in baseball
  15. craft — a skill
  16. shower — a meteor shower
  17. cold — not warm
  18. degree — an amount
  19. shower — rain
  20. pitcher — a jug
  21. trunk — of a tree
  22. pitcher — a jug
  23. band — a ring
  24. cold — an illness

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