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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 116 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: bark · lash · wake · pit · cold · trunk · cell · capital

  1. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  2. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  3. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  4. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  5. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  6. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  11. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  12. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  13. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  14. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  15. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  18. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  19. He was locked up in a ________________.
  20. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  21. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  22. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  23. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  24. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of an elephant
  2. pit — a hole
  3. lash — to lash out
  4. bark — a dog's sound
  5. trunk — of a tree
  6. wake — a trail
  7. cold — not warm
  8. cell — in biology
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. capital — a city
  11. pit — in a race
  12. pit — a fruit stone
  13. capital — a big letter
  14. wake — to stop sleeping
  15. bark — of a tree
  16. cold — an illness
  17. capital — money
  18. cell — a phone
  19. cell — in a prison
  20. lash — a whip stroke
  21. trunk — of a car
  22. bark — to shout
  23. lash — an eyelash
  24. wake — before a funeral

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