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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.

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: nail · mine · calf · spell · pound · cold · trunk · track

  1. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  3. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  4. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  5. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  6. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  11. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  12. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  13. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  14. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  15. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  16. The ________________ went through the wall.
  17. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  18. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  19. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  20. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  21. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  22. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  23. How do you ________________ your surname?
  24. He had ________________ pain while walking.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. track — a song
  3. track — to keep track
  4. trunk — of an elephant
  5. nail — for a hammer
  6. calf — a young animal
  7. cold — not warm
  8. trunk — of a car
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. pound — to hit hard
  11. nail — on a finger
  12. mine — for digging
  13. mine — belonging to me
  14. spell — magic
  15. calf — a young animal
  16. nail — for a hammer
  17. trunk — of a tree
  18. pound — for dogs
  19. mine — an explosive
  20. track — a path
  21. pound — a weight
  22. spell — a short time
  23. spell — letters
  24. calf — of the leg

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