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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: trunk · tube · spring · drill · spell · leaves · kid · wound

  1. I'll be taking the ________________.
  2. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  3. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  4. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  5. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  6. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  7. How do you ________________ your surname?
  8. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  9. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  10. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  11. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  12. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  13. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  14. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  15. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  16. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  17. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  18. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  19. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  20. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  21. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  22. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  23. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  24. We ________________ up on opposing sides.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — the underground
  2. spring — a coil
  3. wound — an injury
  4. drill — a practice
  5. kid — to tease
  6. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  7. spell — letters
  8. drill — army training
  9. trunk — of an elephant
  10. kid — child
  11. leaves — lets stay
  12. leaves — to go away
  13. drill — the tool
  14. tube — a container
  15. leaves — of a tree
  16. spring — the season
  17. wound — an injury
  18. trunk — of a tree
  19. spell — a short time
  20. spring — of water
  21. trunk — of a car
  22. tube — in a tire
  23. spell — magic
  24. wound — past of 'wind'

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