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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 120 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: bat · bound · pass · wake · fork · trunk · wind · fall

  1. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  2. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  3. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  4. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  5. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  6. That was ________________ to happen.
  7. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  8. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  9. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  10. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  11. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  12. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  13. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  14. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  15. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  16. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  17. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  18. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  19. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  20. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  21. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  24. The elephant has a huge ________________.

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. fork — to eat with
  4. wake — a trail
  5. pass — to succeed
  6. bound — certain
  7. wind — moving air
  8. fall — the season
  9. bound — obliged
  10. fall — to drop
  11. pass — a permit
  12. wake — before a funeral
  13. bat — for baseball
  14. wake — to stop sleeping
  15. fork — a garden tool
  16. bat — the animal
  17. fall — to drop
  18. wind — moving air
  19. pass — to spend time
  20. fork — in a road
  21. wind — to turn a key
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. trunk — of a tree
  24. trunk — of an elephant

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