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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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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: deal · bat · hand · fall · rock · trunk · shower · tube

  1. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  3. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  4. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  5. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  6. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  7. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  8. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  9. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  10. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  11. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  12. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  13. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  14. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  15. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  16. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  17. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  19. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  20. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  21. I'll be taking the ________________.
  22. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  24. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. rock — to move gently
  3. fall — to drop
  4. tube — a container
  5. bat — in an idiom
  6. hand — help
  7. deal — a big deal
  8. trunk — of a tree
  9. rock — music
  10. trunk — of a car
  11. fall — to drop
  12. deal — an agreement
  13. shower — rain
  14. tube — in a tire
  15. fall — the season
  16. rock — a stone
  17. deal — to handle
  18. bat — for baseball
  19. hand — in cards
  20. shower — a meteor shower
  21. tube — the underground
  22. trunk — of an elephant
  23. bat — the animal
  24. hand — part of the body

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