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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 · lie · rash · spring · saw · trunk · rule · bank

  1. Don't do anything ________________.
  2. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  3. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  4. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  5. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  6. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  7. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  8. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  9. She's very handy with a ________________.
  10. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  11. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  12. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  13. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  14. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  15. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  16. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  17. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  18. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  19. He works in a ________________ mill.
  20. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  21. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  22. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  23. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  24. We took cover from the thunder ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — hasty
  2. spring — of water
  3. trunk — of a car
  4. rash — on the skin
  5. spring — the season
  6. shower — to wash
  7. lie — to recline
  8. lie — an untruth
  9. saw — the tool
  10. lie — an untruth
  11. trunk — of an elephant
  12. shower — a meteor shower
  13. rash — a series
  14. saw — past of 'see'
  15. rule — a law
  16. bank — for money
  17. spring — a coil
  18. bank — of a river
  19. saw — the tool
  20. rule — government
  21. bank — for money
  22. rule — to rule out
  23. trunk — of a tree
  24. shower — rain

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