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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: temple · shower · trunk · jam · content · straw · bark · chest

  1. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  2. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  3. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  4. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  5. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  6. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  7. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  8. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  9. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  10. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  11. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  12. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  13. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  14. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  15. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  16. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  17. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  18. When was this ________________ built?
  19. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  20. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  21. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  22. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  23. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  24. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. bark — a dog's sound
  3. jam — a tight spot
  4. straw — a straw man
  5. content — happy
  6. content — videos and posts
  7. shower — a meteor shower
  8. trunk — of an elephant
  9. jam — in traffic
  10. trunk — of a car
  11. shower — rain
  12. content — the amount
  13. shower — to wash
  14. chest — a box
  15. temple — a place of worship
  16. trunk — of a tree
  17. straw — dry grass
  18. temple — a place of worship
  19. temple — side of the head
  20. bark — of a tree
  21. chest — of your body
  22. jam — to spread on bread
  23. straw — to clutch at straws
  24. bark — to shout

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