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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. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  2. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  3. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  4. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  5. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  8. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  9. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  10. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  11. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  12. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  13. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  14. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  15. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  16. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  17. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  18. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  19. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. The ball is in your ________________.
  23. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  24. I can't ________________ this cold.

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of a tree
  2. wound — an injury
  3. stand — on your feet
  4. fall — the season
  5. fall — to drop
  6. clip — to cut
  7. march — the month
  8. march — music
  9. court — of law
  10. pound — to hit hard
  11. pound — for dogs
  12. trunk — of a car
  13. stand — for spectators
  14. march — the month
  15. pound — a weight
  16. wound — past of 'wind'
  17. fall — to drop
  18. wound — an injury
  19. court — of a king
  20. clip — a video
  21. clip — for paper
  22. court — for sport
  23. trunk — of an elephant
  24. stand — to bear

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