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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 124 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 · kid · cue · fall · land · wound · dip · root

  1. When are we going to ________________?
  2. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  3. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  4. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  5. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  6. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  7. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  8. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  9. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  10. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  11. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  12. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  13. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  14. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  15. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  16. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  17. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  18. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  19. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  20. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  21. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  22. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  23. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  24. The elephant has a huge ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. land — to come down
  2. land — a country
  3. fall — the season
  4. land — ground
  5. cue — for pool
  6. fall — to drop
  7. trunk — of a car
  8. dip — to sink
  9. fall — to drop
  10. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  11. kid — to tease
  12. dip — a sauce
  13. trunk — of a tree
  14. wound — past of 'wind'
  15. root — of a word
  16. root — the cause
  17. dip — to dunk
  18. root — of a plant
  19. wound — an injury
  20. cue — a hint
  21. wound — an injury
  22. cue — a signal
  23. kid — child
  24. trunk — of an elephant

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