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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: wound · pop · trunk · kid · wake · pitch · last · spell

  1. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  2. You don't need to ________________ round.
  3. We're almost out of ________________.
  4. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  5. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  6. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  7. How do you ________________ your surname?
  8. False peace will not ________________.
  9. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  10. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  11. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  12. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  13. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  14. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  15. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  16. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  17. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  18. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  19. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  20. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  21. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  22. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  23. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  24. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  2. pop — to visit
  3. pop — soda
  4. spell — magic
  5. pitch — a sales talk
  6. pitch — a sports field
  7. spell — letters
  8. last — to go on
  9. wake — to stop sleeping
  10. kid — child
  11. kid — to tease
  12. wound — an injury
  13. spell — a short time
  14. wound — past of 'wind'
  15. trunk — of an elephant
  16. pitch — completely
  17. pop — music
  18. wake — before a funeral
  19. last — final
  20. trunk — of a tree
  21. wound — an injury
  22. trunk — of a car
  23. last — finally
  24. wake — a trail

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