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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 120 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 · mate · shower · pass · stock · sharp · drill · field

  1. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  2. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  3. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  4. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  5. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  6. It's one o'clock ________________.
  7. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  8. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  9. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  10. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  11. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  14. Have you found your soul ________________?
  15. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  16. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. The ________________ market has crashed.
  19. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  20. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  21. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  22. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  23. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  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. trunk — of an elephant
  2. pass — a permit
  3. sharp — with an edge
  4. stock — goods
  5. shower — to wash
  6. sharp — exactly
  7. drill — the tool
  8. trunk — of a car
  9. drill — army training
  10. mate — a friend
  11. pass — to succeed
  12. field — for sport
  13. drill — a practice
  14. mate — a partner
  15. stock — a soup base
  16. mate — to breed
  17. field — a subject
  18. stock — shares
  19. sharp — clever
  20. shower — a meteor shower
  21. field — farmland
  22. trunk — of a tree
  23. pass — to spend time
  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