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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: trunk · ball · shower · bark · hand · leaves · ground · toast

  1. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  2. The King held a masked ________________.
  3. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  4. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  5. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  6. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  7. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  8. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  9. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  10. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  11. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  12. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  13. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  14. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  15. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  16. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  17. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  18. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  19. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  20. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  21. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  22. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  23. There's no middle ________________.
  24. The kitten curled into a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — crushed
  2. ball — a dance
  3. leaves — lets stay
  4. shower — rain
  5. hand — help
  6. leaves — to go away
  7. shower — to wash
  8. trunk — of an elephant
  9. toast — the most admired
  10. hand — part of the body
  11. leaves — of a tree
  12. ball — a great time
  13. bark — a dog's sound
  14. bark — to shout
  15. hand — in cards
  16. ground — the earth
  17. trunk — of a tree
  18. shower — a meteor shower
  19. toast — bread
  20. bark — of a tree
  21. toast — a drink to someone
  22. trunk — of a car
  23. ground — a position
  24. ball — a round shape

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