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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: face · spring · march · present · race · trunk · wake · wound

  1. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  2. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  3. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  4. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  5. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  6. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  7. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  8. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  9. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  10. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  11. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  12. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  13. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  14. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  15. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  16. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  17. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  18. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  19. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  20. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  21. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  22. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  23. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  24. We ________________ up on opposing sides.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — to stop sleeping
  2. face — part of the head
  3. race — the arms race
  4. spring — of water
  5. present — there
  6. spring — the season
  7. march — the month
  8. wound — an injury
  9. trunk — of an elephant
  10. wake — before a funeral
  11. present — the time now
  12. spring — a coil
  13. face — to confront
  14. present — a gift
  15. wake — a trail
  16. trunk — of a car
  17. face — to point toward
  18. march — the month
  19. race — humankind
  20. march — music
  21. race — a contest
  22. wound — an injury
  23. trunk — of a tree
  24. wound — past of 'wind'

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