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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 · rash · drill · spring · bark · roll · bulb · swing

  1. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  2. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  3. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  4. I've got to change the light ________________.
  5. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  6. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  7. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  8. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  9. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  10. David sat on the ________________.
  11. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  12. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  13. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  14. The light ________________ burned out.
  15. Don't do anything ________________.
  16. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  17. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  18. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  19. We're on a ________________ here.
  20. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  21. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  22. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  23. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  24. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of a car
  2. drill — a practice
  3. drill — the tool
  4. bulb — for light
  5. rash — on the skin
  6. trunk — of an elephant
  7. roll — a list
  8. spring — the season
  9. swing — music
  10. swing — to play on
  11. swing — in golf
  12. bark — of a tree
  13. bark — a dog's sound
  14. bulb — for light
  15. rash — hasty
  16. bulb — of a plant
  17. spring — of water
  18. roll — a cake
  19. roll — on a roll
  20. trunk — of a tree
  21. spring — a coil
  22. bark — to shout
  23. drill — army training
  24. rash — a series

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