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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 116 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: wound · squash · track · last · trunk · cap · land · cold

  1. When are we going to ________________?
  2. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  3. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  4. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  5. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  6. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  7. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  8. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  9. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  13. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  14. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  15. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  16. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  17. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  18. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  19. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  20. False peace will not ________________.
  21. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  22. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  23. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. land — to come down
  2. wound — an injury
  3. squash — to crush
  4. squash — the sport
  5. track — a song
  6. track — a path
  7. trunk — of a car
  8. trunk — of a tree
  9. cap — of ice
  10. cold — not warm
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. squash — the vegetable
  13. cap — a lid
  14. land — a country
  15. last — finally
  16. last — final
  17. trunk — of an elephant
  18. track — to keep track
  19. cap — a hat
  20. last — to go on
  21. wound — an injury
  22. land — ground
  23. wound — past of 'wind'
  24. cold — an illness

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