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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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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: trunk · bank · staff · perch · kid · file · cold · drill

  1. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  2. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  3. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  4. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  7. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  8. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  11. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  12. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  13. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  14. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  15. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  16. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  17. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  18. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  19. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  22. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  23. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  24. The old man leaned on his ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a document
  2. trunk — of a tree
  3. staff — employees
  4. perch — for a bird
  5. cold — an illness
  6. trunk — of a car
  7. drill — the tool
  8. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  9. cold — not warm
  10. drill — a practice
  11. kid — child
  12. drill — army training
  13. trunk — of an elephant
  14. bank — for money
  15. file — a line of people
  16. perch — the fish
  17. file — a tool
  18. bank — for money
  19. staff — employees
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. kid — to tease
  22. perch — for a bird
  23. bank — of a river
  24. staff — a stick

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