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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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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: wind · pit · trunk · row · perch · cold · club · nail

  1. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  2. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  3. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  6. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  7. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  8. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  9. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  13. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  14. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  15. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  16. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  17. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  18. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  19. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  20. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  21. The ________________ went through the wall.
  22. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  23. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  24. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.

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

Answer key

  1. nail — on a finger
  2. row — a quarrel
  3. pit — in a race
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. perch — the fish
  6. wind — moving air
  7. trunk — of a car
  8. wind — to turn a key
  9. perch — for a bird
  10. cold — an illness
  11. cold — not warm
  12. row — a line
  13. pit — a fruit stone
  14. trunk — of an elephant
  15. perch — for a bird
  16. club — for dancing
  17. trunk — of a tree
  18. row — to paddle
  19. pit — a hole
  20. nail — for a hammer
  21. nail — for a hammer
  22. wind — moving air
  23. club — for golf
  24. club — a group

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