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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 · saw · season · can · foot · shower · coach · kid

  1. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  3. Have you met the new head ________________?
  4. Did you ________________ the meat?
  5. She's very handy with a ________________.
  6. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  7. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  8. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  9. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  10. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  11. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  12. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  13. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  14. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  15. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  16. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  17. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  18. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  19. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  20. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  21. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  22. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  23. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  24. He works in a ________________ mill.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. can — a tin
  3. coach — a trainer
  4. season — to add flavour
  5. saw — the tool
  6. shower — a meteor shower
  7. season — of the year
  8. trunk — of a tree
  9. foot — a measure
  10. trunk — of a car
  11. season — in sport
  12. coach — a trainer
  13. coach — pulled by horses
  14. trunk — of an elephant
  15. can — a tin
  16. shower — to wash
  17. saw — past of 'see'
  18. can — to be able to
  19. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  20. foot — part of the body
  21. foot — the bottom
  22. kid — child
  23. shower — rain
  24. saw — the tool

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