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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: trunk · rash · lie · chair · deal · cold · clip · shower

  1. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  2. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  3. Don't do anything ________________.
  4. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  5. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  8. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  9. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  10. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  11. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  14. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  15. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  18. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  19. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  20. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  24. Hold the papers together with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — on the skin
  2. chair — a leader
  3. rash — hasty
  4. trunk — of a tree
  5. trunk — of an elephant
  6. cold — an illness
  7. deal — to handle
  8. lie — an untruth
  9. shower — rain
  10. rash — a series
  11. trunk — of a car
  12. clip — a video
  13. lie — to recline
  14. shower — to wash
  15. lie — an untruth
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. chair — to sit on
  18. chair — a professorship
  19. shower — a meteor shower
  20. deal — an agreement
  21. cold — not warm
  22. clip — to cut
  23. deal — a big deal
  24. clip — for paper

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