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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: cell · spell · rash · mug · march · cold · trunk · kid

  1. Don't do anything ________________.
  2. Where did you ________________ them?
  3. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  4. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  5. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  6. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  7. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  8. He was locked up in a ________________.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  11. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  14. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  15. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  18. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  19. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  20. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  21. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  22. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  23. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  24. How do you ________________ your surname?

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

Answer key

  1. rash — hasty
  2. mug — to rob
  3. march — music
  4. trunk — of a tree
  5. trunk — of a car
  6. mug — a cup
  7. kid — to tease
  8. cell — in a prison
  9. cold — an illness
  10. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  11. mug — a face
  12. cold — not warm
  13. rash — a series
  14. kid — child
  15. march — the month
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. spell — magic
  18. cell — in biology
  19. rash — on the skin
  20. spell — a short time
  21. cell — a phone
  22. trunk — of an elephant
  23. march — the month
  24. spell — letters

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