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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: ground · wound · wake · date · trunk · last · land · calf

  1. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  2. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  3. When are we going to ________________?
  4. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  5. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  6. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  7. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  8. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  9. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  10. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  11. False peace will not ________________.
  12. There's no middle ________________.
  13. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  14. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  15. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  16. Have you settled on a ________________?
  17. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  18. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  19. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  20. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  21. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  22. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  23. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  24. He had ________________ pain while walking.

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. calf — a young animal
  3. land — to come down
  4. wound — an injury
  5. wake — to stop sleeping
  6. date — on the calendar
  7. last — finally
  8. ground — the earth
  9. ground — crushed
  10. date — the fruit
  11. last — to go on
  12. ground — a position
  13. trunk — of a car
  14. trunk — of an elephant
  15. wake — before a funeral
  16. date — on the calendar
  17. land — a country
  18. wound — past of 'wind'
  19. wake — a trail
  20. last — final
  21. calf — a young animal
  22. wound — an injury
  23. trunk — of a tree
  24. calf — of the leg

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