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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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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: rule · field · leaves · shower · lash · trunk · roll · hand

  1. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  2. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  3. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  4. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  5. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  6. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  7. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  8. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  9. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  10. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  11. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  12. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  13. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  14. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  15. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  16. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  17. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  18. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  19. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  20. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  21. We're on a ________________ here.
  22. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  23. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  24. We took cover from the thunder ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. lash — to lash out
  2. shower — to wash
  3. trunk — of a tree
  4. field — farmland
  5. trunk — of an elephant
  6. rule — to rule out
  7. lash — an eyelash
  8. rule — a law
  9. leaves — to go away
  10. hand — part of the body
  11. shower — a meteor shower
  12. leaves — of a tree
  13. rule — government
  14. hand — in cards
  15. leaves — lets stay
  16. roll — a list
  17. roll — a cake
  18. field — a subject
  19. field — for sport
  20. trunk — of a car
  21. roll — on a roll
  22. hand — help
  23. lash — a whip stroke
  24. shower — rain

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