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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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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: wake · can · cold · court · march · trunk · leaves · race

  1. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  2. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  5. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  6. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  7. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  10. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  11. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  12. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  13. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  14. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  15. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  16. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  17. The ball is in your ________________.
  18. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  19. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  20. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  21. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  22. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  23. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  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. march — music
  2. march — the month
  3. cold — an illness
  4. leaves — of a tree
  5. wake — before a funeral
  6. leaves — to go away
  7. trunk — of a car
  8. cold — not warm
  9. trunk — of an elephant
  10. court — of law
  11. can — a tin
  12. race — a contest
  13. race — humankind
  14. court — of a king
  15. can — to be able to
  16. march — the month
  17. court — for sport
  18. leaves — lets stay
  19. wake — to stop sleeping
  20. trunk — of a tree
  21. wake — a trail
  22. can — a tin
  23. race — the arms race
  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