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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: mine · pound · cold · deal · wound · current · trunk · tube

  1. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  2. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  3. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  4. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  5. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  6. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  9. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  10. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  11. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  12. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  13. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  14. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  15. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  16. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  17. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  22. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  23. I'll be taking the ________________.
  24. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.

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

Answer key

  1. deal — a big deal
  2. current — happening now
  3. pound — to hit hard
  4. trunk — of a tree
  5. wound — an injury
  6. tube — in a tire
  7. cold — not warm
  8. mine — for digging
  9. wound — an injury
  10. deal — to handle
  11. current — electric
  12. trunk — of an elephant
  13. wound — past of 'wind'
  14. trunk — of a car
  15. mine — belonging to me
  16. tube — a container
  17. deal — an agreement
  18. cold — an illness
  19. current — of water
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. pound — for dogs
  22. mine — an explosive
  23. tube — the underground
  24. pound — a weight

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