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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: mine · wound · chest · charge · squash · saw · trunk · track

  1. The tickets are free of ________________.
  2. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  3. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  4. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  5. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  6. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  7. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  8. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  9. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  10. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  11. She's very handy with a ________________.
  12. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  13. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  14. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  15. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  16. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  17. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  18. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  19. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  20. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  21. He works in a ________________ mill.
  22. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  23. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  24. Where can I ________________ my mobile?

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

Answer key

  1. charge — a price
  2. chest — of your body
  3. squash — to crush
  4. track — to keep track
  5. mine — belonging to me
  6. trunk — of an elephant
  7. saw — past of 'see'
  8. wound — an injury
  9. track — a song
  10. mine — an explosive
  11. saw — the tool
  12. squash — the sport
  13. mine — for digging
  14. track — a path
  15. wound — past of 'wind'
  16. chest — a box
  17. trunk — of a car
  18. charge — in control
  19. chest — of your body
  20. squash — the vegetable
  21. saw — the tool
  22. trunk — of a tree
  23. wound — an injury
  24. charge — electricity

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