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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: trunk · perch · wound · ground · cap · band · cold · can

  1. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  2. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  5. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  6. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  7. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  8. There's no middle ________________.
  9. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  10. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  11. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  16. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  17. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  18. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  19. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  20. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  21. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  22. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  23. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  24. The polar ice ________________ is melting.

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

Answer key

  1. can — a tin
  2. perch — for a bird
  3. cold — not warm
  4. band — a rubber band
  5. perch — for a bird
  6. can — a tin
  7. ground — the earth
  8. ground — a position
  9. wound — an injury
  10. cap — a lid
  11. ground — crushed
  12. cold — an illness
  13. trunk — of a tree
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. perch — the fish
  16. band — a music group
  17. wound — an injury
  18. can — to be able to
  19. wound — past of 'wind'
  20. trunk — of an elephant
  21. trunk — of a car
  22. cap — a hat
  23. band — a ring
  24. cap — of ice

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