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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: trunk · degree · wound · clip · track · bound · capital · fork

  1. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  2. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  3. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  4. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  5. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  6. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  7. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  8. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  9. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  10. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  11. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  12. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  13. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  14. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  15. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  16. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  17. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  18. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. That was ________________ to happen.
  24. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.

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

Answer key

  1. bound — tied together
  2. trunk — of a car
  3. track — to keep track
  4. capital — a big letter
  5. fork — in a road
  6. trunk — of an elephant
  7. track — a path
  8. wound — an injury
  9. track — a song
  10. capital — money
  11. fork — to eat with
  12. fork — a garden tool
  13. degree — an amount
  14. trunk — of a tree
  15. bound — obliged
  16. wound — an injury
  17. capital — a city
  18. wound — past of 'wind'
  19. clip — to cut
  20. clip — a video
  21. degree — temperature
  22. clip — for paper
  23. bound — certain
  24. degree — from a university

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