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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 120 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: fall · rule · trunk · lash · root · branch · track · wound

  1. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  2. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  3. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  4. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  5. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  6. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  7. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  8. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  9. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  10. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  11. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  12. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  13. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  14. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  15. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  16. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  17. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  18. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  19. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  20. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  21. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  22. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  23. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  24. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.

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

Answer key

  1. lash — a whip stroke
  2. rule — government
  3. fall — the season
  4. trunk — of an elephant
  5. fall — to drop
  6. rule — to rule out
  7. branch — of a bank
  8. fall — to drop
  9. trunk — of a tree
  10. branch — of a tree
  11. track — a path
  12. wound — an injury
  13. lash — an eyelash
  14. trunk — of a car
  15. lash — to lash out
  16. wound — an injury
  17. root — of a plant
  18. branch — a division
  19. root — the cause
  20. wound — past of 'wind'
  21. root — of a word
  22. rule — a law
  23. track — to keep track
  24. track — a song

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