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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: shower · leaves · mark · land · rule · march · trunk · kid

  1. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  2. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  3. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  4. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  5. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  6. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  7. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  8. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  9. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  10. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  11. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  12. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  13. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  14. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  15. When are we going to ________________?
  16. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  17. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  18. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  19. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  20. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  21. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  22. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  23. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  24. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of a car
  2. leaves — of a tree
  3. march — music
  4. kid — to tease
  5. rule — government
  6. rule — to rule out
  7. leaves — lets stay
  8. trunk — of a tree
  9. land — ground
  10. shower — rain
  11. land — a country
  12. shower — to wash
  13. kid — child
  14. mark — a trace
  15. land — to come down
  16. mark — to pay attention
  17. shower — a meteor shower
  18. leaves — to go away
  19. march — the month
  20. mark — a grade
  21. march — the month
  22. trunk — of an elephant
  23. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  24. rule — a law

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