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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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  2. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  3. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  4. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  5. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  6. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  7. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  8. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  9. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  10. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  11. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  12. That must've been a ________________.
  13. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  14. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  15. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  16. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  17. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  18. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  19. Have you settled on a ________________?
  20. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  21. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  22. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  23. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  24. This looks like a gunshot ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of a car
  2. rush — to hurry
  3. wound — an injury
  4. rush — hurry
  5. wake — before a funeral
  6. capital — money
  7. wake — a trail
  8. current — electric
  9. wound — past of 'wind'
  10. wake — to stop sleeping
  11. date — on the calendar
  12. rush — a thrill
  13. track — to keep track
  14. current — happening now
  15. current — of water
  16. capital — a city
  17. trunk — of a tree
  18. capital — a big letter
  19. date — on the calendar
  20. track — a song
  21. trunk — of an elephant
  22. date — the fruit
  23. track — a path
  24. wound — an injury

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