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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: land · bat · toast · court · shower · ruler · stem · trunk

  1. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  2. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  3. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  4. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  5. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  6. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  7. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  8. The ball is in your ________________.
  9. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  10. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  11. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  12. When are we going to ________________?
  13. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  14. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  15. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  16. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  17. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  18. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  19. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  20. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  21. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  22. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  23. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  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. stem — a stem cell
  2. land — a country
  3. ruler — for measuring
  4. ruler — a monarch
  5. trunk — of an elephant
  6. trunk — of a tree
  7. stem — to come from
  8. court — for sport
  9. stem — of a plant
  10. bat — for baseball
  11. toast — a drink to someone
  12. land — to come down
  13. ruler — for measuring
  14. shower — a meteor shower
  15. shower — to wash
  16. toast — bread
  17. bat — in an idiom
  18. land — ground
  19. court — of a king
  20. toast — the most admired
  21. court — of law
  22. bat — the animal
  23. trunk — of a car
  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