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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 · ground · clip · cold · trunk · ball · ruler · hide

  1. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  2. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  3. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  4. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  5. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  10. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  11. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  12. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  13. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. The King held a masked ________________.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  20. There's no middle ________________.
  21. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  22. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  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. shower — a meteor shower
  2. ruler — for measuring
  3. ball — a great time
  4. ground — the earth
  5. shower — to wash
  6. cold — not warm
  7. ruler — a monarch
  8. cold — an illness
  9. ground — crushed
  10. trunk — of a tree
  11. hide — animal skin
  12. hide — to keep secret
  13. ruler — for measuring
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. hide — to keep secret
  16. clip — for paper
  17. ball — a dance
  18. clip — to cut
  19. trunk — of a car
  20. ground — a position
  21. ball — a round shape
  22. trunk — of an elephant
  23. clip — a video
  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