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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: drill · mark · shower · trunk · patient · straw · tube · cold

  1. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  2. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  3. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  4. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  5. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  8. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  9. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  10. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  11. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  12. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  13. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  14. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  15. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  16. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. I'll be taking the ________________.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  21. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  22. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  23. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  24. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. drill — a practice
  2. trunk — of a car
  3. shower — to wash
  4. straw — a straw man
  5. patient — calm and waiting
  6. cold — not warm
  7. mark — a grade
  8. mark — to pay attention
  9. shower — rain
  10. patient — a sick person
  11. straw — to clutch at straws
  12. tube — a container
  13. drill — army training
  14. patient — a sick person
  15. shower — a meteor shower
  16. trunk — of a tree
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. tube — the underground
  19. cold — an illness
  20. drill — the tool
  21. tube — in a tire
  22. mark — a trace
  23. trunk — of an elephant
  24. straw — dry grass

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