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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: spring · kid · squash · shower · race · trunk · mug · ground

  1. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  2. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  3. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  4. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  5. There's no middle ________________.
  6. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  7. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  8. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  9. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  10. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  11. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  12. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  13. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  14. Where did you ________________ them?
  15. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  16. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  17. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  18. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  19. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  20. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  21. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  22. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  23. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  24. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — a meteor shower
  2. ground — the earth
  3. trunk — of an elephant
  4. race — a contest
  5. ground — a position
  6. mug — a face
  7. squash — the vegetable
  8. squash — the sport
  9. race — humankind
  10. mug — a cup
  11. ground — crushed
  12. shower — to wash
  13. squash — to crush
  14. mug — to rob
  15. spring — the season
  16. trunk — of a tree
  17. spring — of water
  18. race — the arms race
  19. spring — a coil
  20. shower — rain
  21. kid — to tease
  22. kid — child
  23. trunk — of a car
  24. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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