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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: mine · file · wound · bay · clip · trunk · wake · tear

  1. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  2. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  3. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  6. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  7. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  8. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  9. My mare is ________________ in color.
  10. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  11. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  14. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  15. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  16. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  17. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  18. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  21. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  22. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  23. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  24. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of an elephant
  2. wound — an injury
  3. tear — to rip
  4. clip — a video
  5. mine — an explosive
  6. mine — belonging to me
  7. file — a line of people
  8. wake — to stop sleeping
  9. bay — a horse colour
  10. wound — an injury
  11. trunk — of a car
  12. clip — to cut
  13. tear — from crying
  14. file — a document
  15. bay — a part of the sea
  16. file — a tool
  17. tear — from crying
  18. mine — for digging
  19. clip — for paper
  20. wound — past of 'wind'
  21. wake — a trail
  22. trunk — of a tree
  23. wake — before a funeral
  24. bay — to keep at bay

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