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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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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: wind · cold · cell · present · pit · bound · last · trunk

  1. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  2. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  3. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  4. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  5. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  8. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  9. False peace will not ________________.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  12. He was locked up in a ________________.
  13. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  14. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  15. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  16. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  17. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  18. That was ________________ to happen.
  19. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  20. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  21. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  22. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!

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

Answer key

  1. cell — a phone
  2. wind — moving air
  3. pit — a fruit stone
  4. trunk — of a tree
  5. last — finally
  6. cold — an illness
  7. present — a gift
  8. trunk — of an elephant
  9. last — to go on
  10. cold — not warm
  11. cell — in biology
  12. cell — in a prison
  13. pit — a hole
  14. present — there
  15. present — the time now
  16. wind — to turn a key
  17. wind — moving air
  18. bound — certain
  19. bound — obliged
  20. bound — tied together
  21. pit — in a race
  22. trunk — of a car
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. last — final

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