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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 · shower · cold · trunk · court · staff · toast · press

  1. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  2. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  3. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. Have you settled on a ________________?
  6. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  7. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  8. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  9. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  10. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  11. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  12. The ball is in your ________________.
  13. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  14. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  15. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  16. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  17. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  18. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  22. Did you ________________ the button?
  23. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  24. I've got the luggage in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — rain
  2. staff — employees
  3. date — on the calendar
  4. cold — not warm
  5. date — on the calendar
  6. staff — a stick
  7. shower — a meteor shower
  8. press — newspapers
  9. press — a publisher
  10. staff — employees
  11. trunk — of a tree
  12. court — for sport
  13. toast — a drink to someone
  14. toast — bread
  15. court — of a king
  16. court — of law
  17. shower — to wash
  18. toast — the most admired
  19. cold — an illness
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. date — the fruit
  22. press — to push
  23. trunk — of an elephant
  24. trunk — of a car

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