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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. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  2. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  3. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  4. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  5. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  6. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  7. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  8. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  9. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  10. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  11. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  12. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  13. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  14. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  15. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  16. Have you met the new head ________________?
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  20. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  21. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  22. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. trunk — of a tree
  3. current — happening now
  4. trunk — of a car
  5. band — a rubber band
  6. fall — to drop
  7. wound — past of 'wind'
  8. coach — pulled by horses
  9. trunk — of an elephant
  10. kick — with a leg
  11. band — a ring
  12. current — of water
  13. fall — the season
  14. wound — an injury
  15. band — a music group
  16. coach — a trainer
  17. clip — for paper
  18. clip — to cut
  19. kick — in football
  20. coach — a trainer
  21. fall — to drop
  22. kick — a thrill
  23. clip — a video
  24. current — electric

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