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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: staff · straw · content · face · bat · shower · branch · trunk

  1. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  2. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  3. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  4. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  5. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  6. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  7. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  8. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  9. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  10. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  11. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  12. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  13. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  16. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  19. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  20. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  21. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  22. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  23. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  24. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. content — videos and posts
  2. straw — a straw man
  3. trunk — of a tree
  4. branch — of a bank
  5. content — the amount
  6. face — part of the head
  7. staff — a stick
  8. shower — a meteor shower
  9. straw — dry grass
  10. content — happy
  11. trunk — of a car
  12. trunk — of an elephant
  13. branch — of a tree
  14. bat — the animal
  15. shower — to wash
  16. face — to point toward
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. staff — employees
  19. branch — a division
  20. bat — in an idiom
  21. face — to confront
  22. staff — employees
  23. shower — rain
  24. straw — to clutch at straws

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