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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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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: land · wake · trunk · band · kid · file

  1. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  2. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  3. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  4. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  5. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  6. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  7. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  8. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  9. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  10. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  11. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  12. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  13. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  14. When are we going to ________________?
  15. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  16. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  17. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  18. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — before a funeral
  2. land — ground
  3. file — a line of people
  4. trunk — of a car
  5. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  6. file — a tool
  7. band — a rubber band
  8. band — a ring
  9. band — a music group
  10. kid — child
  11. wake — to stop sleeping
  12. file — a document
  13. kid — to tease
  14. land — to come down
  15. trunk — of an elephant
  16. land — a country
  17. trunk — of a tree
  18. wake — a trail

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