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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: bank · race · trunk · stand · clip · wake · hand · file

  1. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  4. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  7. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  8. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  11. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  12. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  13. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  14. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  15. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  16. I can't ________________ this cold.
  17. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  18. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  19. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  20. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  21. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  22. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  23. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  24. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of a car
  2. clip — for paper
  3. wake — a trail
  4. hand — in cards
  5. clip — to cut
  6. bank — for money
  7. hand — help
  8. race — a contest
  9. clip — a video
  10. stand — for spectators
  11. race — humankind
  12. wake — to stop sleeping
  13. race — the arms race
  14. file — a document
  15. bank — of a river
  16. stand — to bear
  17. file — a line of people
  18. trunk — of a tree
  19. bank — for money
  20. trunk — of an elephant
  21. wake — before a funeral
  22. hand — part of the body
  23. file — a tool
  24. stand — on your feet

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