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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.

Words on the sheet
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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: saw · perch · cold · capital · wake · track · mine · trunk

  1. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  2. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  3. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  4. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  8. She's very handy with a ________________.
  9. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  10. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  11. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  12. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  13. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  14. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  15. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. He works in a ________________ mill.
  18. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  19. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  20. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  21. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  22. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  23. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  24. I've got the luggage in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — the fish
  2. trunk — of a tree
  3. perch — for a bird
  4. wake — a trail
  5. cold — an illness
  6. cold — not warm
  7. track — a path
  8. saw — the tool
  9. wake — to stop sleeping
  10. track — a song
  11. capital — a big letter
  12. wake — before a funeral
  13. mine — belonging to me
  14. capital — a city
  15. mine — for digging
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. saw — the tool
  18. track — to keep track
  19. mine — an explosive
  20. saw — past of 'see'
  21. perch — for a bird
  22. capital — money
  23. trunk — of an elephant
  24. trunk — of a car

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