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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 · band · shower · sharp · chest · ball · toast

  1. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  2. Don't do anything ________________.
  3. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  4. The King held a masked ________________.
  5. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  6. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  7. It's one o'clock ________________.
  8. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  9. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  10. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  11. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  12. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  13. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  14. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  15. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  16. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  17. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  18. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  19. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  20. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  21. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  22. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  23. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  24. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a ring
  2. rash — hasty
  3. chest — of your body
  4. ball — a dance
  5. chest — of your body
  6. trunk — of an elephant
  7. sharp — exactly
  8. sharp — clever
  9. shower — rain
  10. chest — a box
  11. sharp — with an edge
  12. rash — on the skin
  13. shower — a meteor shower
  14. ball — a round shape
  15. shower — to wash
  16. rash — a series
  17. trunk — of a tree
  18. band — a rubber band
  19. trunk — of a car
  20. toast — the most admired
  21. toast — bread
  22. band — a music group
  23. toast — a drink to someone
  24. ball — a great time

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