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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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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 · last · bay · snap · racket · capital · bank · chest

  1. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  2. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  3. My mare is ________________ in color.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  6. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  7. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  8. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  9. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  10. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  11. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  12. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  13. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  14. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  15. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  16. False peace will not ________________.
  17. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  18. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  19. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  20. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  21. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  22. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  23. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  24. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bank — for money
  2. trunk — of an elephant
  3. bay — a horse colour
  4. capital — a city
  5. last — final
  6. snap — to click
  7. chest — of your body
  8. racket — for tennis
  9. racket — for tennis
  10. snap — to snap out of it
  11. racket — a loud noise
  12. trunk — of a car
  13. bay — a part of the sea
  14. chest — a box
  15. bank — for money
  16. last — to go on
  17. capital — a big letter
  18. snap — to speak sharply
  19. capital — money
  20. last — finally
  21. chest — of your body
  22. bank — of a river
  23. trunk — of a tree
  24. bay — to keep at bay

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