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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: chip · trunk · hand · stem · shower · pitcher · fan · wound

  1. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  2. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  4. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  5. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  6. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  7. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  8. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  9. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  10. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  11. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  12. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  13. He is an ace ________________.
  14. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  15. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  16. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  17. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  18. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  19. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  20. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  21. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  22. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  23. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  24. He's taking a ________________ right now.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — to cool the air
  2. hand — help
  3. trunk — of an elephant
  4. chip — to eat
  5. fan — a supporter
  6. pitcher — a jug
  7. trunk — of a car
  8. wound — an injury
  9. wound — past of 'wind'
  10. shower — rain
  11. chip — for betting
  12. trunk — of a tree
  13. pitcher — in baseball
  14. wound — an injury
  15. pitcher — a jug
  16. stem — of a plant
  17. hand — in cards
  18. hand — part of the body
  19. shower — a meteor shower
  20. stem — to come from
  21. chip — in a computer
  22. stem — a stem cell
  23. fan — a supporter
  24. shower — to wash

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