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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 120 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: cold · leaves · trunk · saw · rule · shower · bark · court

  1. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  2. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  3. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  4. She's very handy with a ________________.
  5. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  6. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  7. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  8. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  9. He works in a ________________ mill.
  10. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  14. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  17. The ball is in your ________________.
  18. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  19. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  20. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  21. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  22. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  23. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  24. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?

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

Answer key

  1. shower — a meteor shower
  2. court — of law
  3. bark — to shout
  4. saw — the tool
  5. shower — to wash
  6. bark — a dog's sound
  7. saw — past of 'see'
  8. leaves — of a tree
  9. saw — the tool
  10. court — of a king
  11. cold — an illness
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. rule — a law
  14. trunk — of an elephant
  15. cold — not warm
  16. leaves — to go away
  17. court — for sport
  18. trunk — of a tree
  19. bark — of a tree
  20. rule — to rule out
  21. leaves — lets stay
  22. trunk — of a car
  23. shower — rain
  24. rule — government

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