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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: cold · can · wound · mug · trunk · file · race · pop

  1. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  2. We're almost out of ________________.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  5. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  6. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  7. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  8. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  9. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  10. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  11. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  12. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  13. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  14. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  15. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  16. You don't need to ________________ round.
  17. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  18. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  19. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  22. Where did you ________________ them?
  23. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — music
  2. pop — soda
  3. cold — not warm
  4. wound — past of 'wind'
  5. wound — an injury
  6. file — a tool
  7. trunk — of a tree
  8. can — to be able to
  9. can — a tin
  10. race — a contest
  11. file — a document
  12. can — a tin
  13. mug — a cup
  14. trunk — of an elephant
  15. file — a line of people
  16. pop — to visit
  17. trunk — of a car
  18. race — the arms race
  19. race — humankind
  20. cold — an illness
  21. mug — a face
  22. mug — to rob
  23. wound — an injury
  24. cold — the Cold War

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