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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: date · pit · shower · wind · board · pound · content · trunk

  1. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  3. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  4. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  5. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  6. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  7. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  8. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  9. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  10. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  11. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  12. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  13. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  14. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  15. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  16. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  17. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  18. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  19. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  20. Have you settled on a ________________?
  21. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  22. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  23. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  24. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. board — a flat piece
  3. pound — to hit hard
  4. board — a committee
  5. trunk — of a car
  6. date — the fruit
  7. wind — to turn a key
  8. board — to get on
  9. pit — a hole
  10. wind — moving air
  11. wind — moving air
  12. pound — for dogs
  13. shower — rain
  14. content — the amount
  15. content — happy
  16. pound — a weight
  17. pit — a fruit stone
  18. date — on the calendar
  19. content — videos and posts
  20. date — on the calendar
  21. trunk — of a tree
  22. pit — in a race
  23. trunk — of an elephant
  24. shower — a meteor shower

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