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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 · race · tear · land · bound · straw · track · last

  1. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  2. That was ________________ to happen.
  3. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  4. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  5. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  6. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  7. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  8. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  9. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  10. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  11. False peace will not ________________.
  12. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  13. When are we going to ________________?
  14. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  15. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  16. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  17. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  18. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  19. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  20. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  21. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  22. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  23. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  24. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — dry grass
  2. bound — certain
  3. track — to keep track
  4. tear — from crying
  5. trunk — of a tree
  6. race — a contest
  7. last — finally
  8. last — final
  9. trunk — of a car
  10. trunk — of an elephant
  11. last — to go on
  12. tear — from crying
  13. land — to come down
  14. straw — to clutch at straws
  15. tear — to rip
  16. bound — obliged
  17. land — ground
  18. track — a song
  19. track — a path
  20. land — a country
  21. race — the arms race
  22. bound — tied together
  23. race — humankind
  24. straw — a straw man

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