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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 120 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: chest · rush · march · trunk · hide · shower · drill · safe

  1. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  2. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  3. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  4. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  5. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  6. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  7. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  8. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  9. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  10. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  11. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  12. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  13. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  14. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  15. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  16. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  17. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  18. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  19. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  20. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  21. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  22. That must've been a ________________.
  23. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  24. He's taking a ________________ right now.

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

Answer key

  1. safe — a strongbox
  2. safe — out of danger
  3. chest — of your body
  4. march — the month
  5. hide — animal skin
  6. trunk — of an elephant
  7. rush — hurry
  8. hide — to keep secret
  9. shower — rain
  10. drill — a practice
  11. chest — of your body
  12. shower — a meteor shower
  13. march — music
  14. drill — army training
  15. trunk — of a tree
  16. chest — a box
  17. hide — to keep secret
  18. rush — to hurry
  19. safe — out of danger
  20. drill — the tool
  21. trunk — of a car
  22. rush — a thrill
  23. march — the month
  24. shower — to wash

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