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

Word bank: bound · chest · trunk · roll · current · nail · track · cold

  1. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  2. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  3. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  4. The ________________ went through the wall.
  5. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  6. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  7. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. That was ________________ to happen.
  10. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  11. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  12. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  15. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  16. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  17. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  18. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  19. We're on a ________________ here.
  20. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  21. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  22. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  23. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. current — happening now
  2. roll — a cake
  3. bound — tied together
  4. nail — for a hammer
  5. track — to keep track
  6. current — of water
  7. current — electric
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. bound — certain
  10. roll — a list
  11. chest — of your body
  12. nail — for a hammer
  13. cold — an illness
  14. trunk — of a tree
  15. nail — on a finger
  16. track — a path
  17. track — a song
  18. chest — a box
  19. roll — on a roll
  20. chest — of your body
  21. bound — obliged
  22. trunk — of an elephant
  23. trunk — of a car
  24. cold — not warm

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