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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: trunk · cold · drill · current · bound · wake · lie · scale

  1. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  2. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  5. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  6. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  7. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  8. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  11. That was ________________ to happen.
  12. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  13. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  14. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  15. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  16. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  17. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  18. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  19. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  20. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  21. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  24. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — before a funeral
  2. scale — for weighing
  3. cold — an illness
  4. lie — to recline
  5. trunk — of a car
  6. wake — a trail
  7. drill — army training
  8. scale — size or range
  9. cold — not warm
  10. scale — in music
  11. bound — certain
  12. trunk — of a tree
  13. bound — obliged
  14. current — happening now
  15. lie — an untruth
  16. trunk — of an elephant
  17. drill — a practice
  18. drill — the tool
  19. lie — an untruth
  20. current — of water
  21. current — electric
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. bound — tied together
  24. wake — to stop sleeping

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