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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: chest · stand · march · wake · cell · band · date · trunk

  1. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  2. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  3. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  4. Have you settled on a ________________?
  5. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  6. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  7. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  8. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  9. He was locked up in a ________________.
  10. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  11. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  12. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  13. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  14. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  15. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  16. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  17. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  18. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  19. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  20. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  21. I can't ________________ this cold.
  22. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  23. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  24. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of a car
  2. band — a rubber band
  3. wake — to stop sleeping
  4. date — on the calendar
  5. trunk — of an elephant
  6. date — on the calendar
  7. wake — a trail
  8. trunk — of a tree
  9. cell — in a prison
  10. chest — of your body
  11. cell — in biology
  12. march — the month
  13. cell — a phone
  14. band — a music group
  15. stand — on your feet
  16. stand — for spectators
  17. date — the fruit
  18. march — music
  19. band — a ring
  20. wake — before a funeral
  21. stand — to bear
  22. chest — a box
  23. chest — of your body
  24. march — the month

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