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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: race · row · file · bat · bound · trunk · wound · ground

  1. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  2. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  3. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  4. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  5. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  6. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  7. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  8. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  9. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  10. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  13. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  14. That was ________________ to happen.
  15. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  16. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  17. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  18. There's no middle ________________.
  19. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  20. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  21. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  22. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  23. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  24. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of an elephant
  2. ground — crushed
  3. wound — past of 'wind'
  4. bat — the animal
  5. bat — for baseball
  6. file — a line of people
  7. bound — obliged
  8. file — a tool
  9. wound — an injury
  10. race — humankind
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. race — the arms race
  13. row — a line
  14. bound — certain
  15. trunk — of a car
  16. trunk — of a tree
  17. row — a quarrel
  18. ground — a position
  19. file — a document
  20. ground — the earth
  21. row — to paddle
  22. wound — an injury
  23. bound — tied together
  24. race — a contest

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