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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: date · hand · club · shower · ball · trunk · fan · land

  1. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  2. The King held a masked ________________.
  3. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  4. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  5. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  6. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  7. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  8. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  9. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  10. When are we going to ________________?
  11. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  12. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  13. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  14. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  15. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  16. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  17. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  18. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  19. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  20. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  21. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  22. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  23. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  24. Have you settled on a ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. hand — in cards
  2. ball — a dance
  3. ball — a round shape
  4. club — for dancing
  5. hand — help
  6. trunk — of a tree
  7. fan — to cool the air
  8. fan — a supporter
  9. land — a country
  10. land — to come down
  11. shower — to wash
  12. club — for golf
  13. shower — rain
  14. date — the fruit
  15. trunk — of an elephant
  16. fan — a supporter
  17. ball — a great time
  18. shower — a meteor shower
  19. date — on the calendar
  20. trunk — of a car
  21. land — ground
  22. hand — part of the body
  23. club — a group
  24. date — on the calendar

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