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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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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: band · race · nail · game · land · shower · trunk · bulb

  1. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. The ________________ went through the wall.
  3. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  4. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  5. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  6. The light ________________ burned out.
  7. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  8. That was a fun ________________.
  9. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  10. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  11. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  12. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  13. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  14. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  15. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  16. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  17. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  18. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  19. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  20. I've got to change the light ________________.
  21. When are we going to ________________?
  22. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  23. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  24. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. nail — for a hammer
  3. game — wild animals
  4. bulb — of a plant
  5. trunk — of a tree
  6. bulb — for light
  7. band — a ring
  8. game — a match
  9. nail — for a hammer
  10. game — a kind of play
  11. trunk — of a car
  12. land — a country
  13. race — a contest
  14. nail — on a finger
  15. band — a rubber band
  16. trunk — of an elephant
  17. land — ground
  18. shower — a meteor shower
  19. race — humankind
  20. bulb — for light
  21. land — to come down
  22. shower — rain
  23. band — a music group
  24. race — the arms race

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