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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.

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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: mouse · trunk · fall · wake · sharp · band · spring · row

  1. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  2. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  3. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  4. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  5. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  6. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  7. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  8. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  9. It's one o'clock ________________.
  10. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  11. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  12. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  13. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  14. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  15. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  16. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  17. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  18. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  19. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  20. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  21. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  22. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  23. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  24. This knife is not ________________ enough.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. mouse — the animal
  3. band — a rubber band
  4. band — a music group
  5. mouse — for a computer
  6. fall — to drop
  7. spring — a coil
  8. band — a ring
  9. sharp — exactly
  10. wake — to stop sleeping
  11. sharp — clever
  12. row — to paddle
  13. spring — the season
  14. row — a quarrel
  15. mouse — the animal
  16. trunk — of a tree
  17. wake — a trail
  18. wake — before a funeral
  19. trunk — of a car
  20. fall — the season
  21. spring — of water
  22. row — a line
  23. trunk — of an elephant
  24. sharp — with an edge

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