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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: wake · hide · current · bat · club · coach · face · trunk

  1. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  2. Have you met the new head ________________?
  3. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  4. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  5. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  6. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  7. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  8. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  9. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  12. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  13. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  14. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  15. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  16. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  17. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  18. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  19. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  20. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  21. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  22. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  23. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  24. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?

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

Answer key

  1. hide — to keep secret
  2. coach — a trainer
  3. current — happening now
  4. current — of water
  5. face — to point toward
  6. club — for golf
  7. current — electric
  8. trunk — of a car
  9. wake — to stop sleeping
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. bat — the animal
  12. hide — to keep secret
  13. bat — for baseball
  14. wake — before a funeral
  15. face — part of the head
  16. trunk — of an elephant
  17. face — to confront
  18. coach — a trainer
  19. club — for dancing
  20. trunk — of a tree
  21. wake — a trail
  22. club — a group
  23. hide — animal skin
  24. coach — pulled by horses

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