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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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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: cap · wind · trunk · march · ruler · mine · court · drill

  1. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  2. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  3. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  4. The ball is in your ________________.
  5. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  6. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  7. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  8. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  9. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  10. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  11. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  12. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  13. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  14. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  15. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  16. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  17. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  18. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  19. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  20. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  21. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  22. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  23. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  24. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of an elephant
  2. cap — a hat
  3. ruler — a monarch
  4. court — for sport
  5. cap — a lid
  6. march — the month
  7. cap — of ice
  8. wind — moving air
  9. ruler — for measuring
  10. march — music
  11. court — of a king
  12. wind — moving air
  13. drill — army training
  14. drill — the tool
  15. mine — an explosive
  16. ruler — for measuring
  17. wind — to turn a key
  18. march — the month
  19. mine — belonging to me
  20. mine — for digging
  21. trunk — of a car
  22. drill — a practice
  23. trunk — of a tree
  24. court — of law

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