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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: trunk · degree · fork · pop · straw · rush · shower · court

  1. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  2. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  3. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  4. The ball is in your ________________.
  5. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. You don't need to ________________ round.
  8. We're almost out of ________________.
  9. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  10. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  11. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  12. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  13. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  14. That must've been a ________________.
  15. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  16. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  17. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  18. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  19. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  20. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  21. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  22. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  23. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  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. trunk — of an elephant
  3. rush — to hurry
  4. court — for sport
  5. degree — temperature
  6. degree — from a university
  7. pop — to visit
  8. pop — soda
  9. degree — an amount
  10. fork — in a road
  11. court — of a king
  12. straw — a straw man
  13. shower — to wash
  14. rush — a thrill
  15. straw — to clutch at straws
  16. rush — hurry
  17. pop — music
  18. court — of law
  19. trunk — of a tree
  20. shower — a meteor shower
  21. fork — to eat with
  22. fork — a garden tool
  23. straw — dry grass
  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