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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: dip · nail · bound · trunk · hand · rush · cold · track

  1. That was ________________ to happen.
  2. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  3. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  4. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  9. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  10. That must've been a ________________.
  11. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  12. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  15. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  16. The ________________ went through the wall.
  17. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  18. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  19. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  20. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  21. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  22. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  23. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  24. You shouldn't ________________ things.

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

Answer key

  1. bound — certain
  2. rush — hurry
  3. track — a song
  4. nail — on a finger
  5. cold — an illness
  6. dip — to sink
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. nail — for a hammer
  9. hand — help
  10. rush — a thrill
  11. dip — to dunk
  12. bound — obliged
  13. cold — not warm
  14. trunk — of a car
  15. hand — in cards
  16. nail — for a hammer
  17. trunk — of an elephant
  18. bound — tied together
  19. dip — a sauce
  20. track — to keep track
  21. trunk — of a tree
  22. track — a path
  23. hand — part of the body
  24. rush — to hurry

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