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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: trunk · pass · hand · stem · band · ground · scale · shower

  1. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  2. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  3. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  4. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  5. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  6. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  7. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  8. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  9. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  10. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  11. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  12. There's no middle ________________.
  13. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  14. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  15. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  16. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  17. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  18. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  19. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  20. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  21. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  22. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  23. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  24. Do you need a ________________ with that?

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

Answer key

  1. band — a ring
  2. ground — the earth
  3. pass — to succeed
  4. trunk — of an elephant
  5. trunk — of a car
  6. trunk — of a tree
  7. scale — for weighing
  8. shower — to wash
  9. ground — crushed
  10. band — a rubber band
  11. stem — of a plant
  12. ground — a position
  13. shower — a meteor shower
  14. scale — size or range
  15. hand — in cards
  16. stem — to come from
  17. stem — a stem cell
  18. hand — part of the body
  19. band — a music group
  20. shower — rain
  21. pass — to spend time
  22. scale — in music
  23. pass — a permit
  24. hand — help

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