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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 116 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: kid · trunk · wake · scale · fall · spring · squash · board

  1. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  2. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  3. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  4. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  5. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  6. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  7. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  8. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  9. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  10. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  11. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  12. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  13. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  14. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  15. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  16. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  17. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  18. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  19. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  20. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  21. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  22. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  23. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  24. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  2. trunk — of an elephant
  3. spring — the season
  4. trunk — of a car
  5. wake — before a funeral
  6. wake — to stop sleeping
  7. scale — size or range
  8. squash — to crush
  9. kid — child
  10. board — to get on
  11. fall — to drop
  12. board — a flat piece
  13. scale — for weighing
  14. spring — a coil
  15. scale — in music
  16. fall — to drop
  17. board — a committee
  18. squash — the sport
  19. kid — to tease
  20. trunk — of a tree
  21. fall — the season
  22. wake — a trail
  23. squash — the vegetable
  24. spring — of water

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