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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: ground · club · cold · spell · trunk · leaves · bay · file

  1. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  2. How do you ________________ your surname?
  3. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  7. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  8. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  9. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  10. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  13. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  14. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  15. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  16. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  17. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  18. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  19. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  20. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  21. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  22. My mare is ________________ in color.
  23. There's no middle ________________.
  24. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of a car
  2. spell — letters
  3. spell — magic
  4. cold — not warm
  5. cold — an illness
  6. bay — to keep at bay
  7. ground — crushed
  8. file — a tool
  9. trunk — of an elephant
  10. ground — the earth
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. leaves — of a tree
  13. club — for golf
  14. spell — a short time
  15. leaves — lets stay
  16. leaves — to go away
  17. file — a document
  18. club — a group
  19. file — a line of people
  20. club — for dancing
  21. trunk — of a tree
  22. bay — a horse colour
  23. ground — a position
  24. bay — a part of the sea

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