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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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  2. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  3. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  4. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  5. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  6. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  7. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  8. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  9. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  10. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  11. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  12. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  13. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  14. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  15. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  16. The light ________________ burned out.
  17. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  18. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  19. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  20. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  21. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  22. I've got to change the light ________________.
  23. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  24. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. trunk — of an elephant
  3. spring — the season
  4. shower — a meteor shower
  5. current — happening now
  6. trunk — of a car
  7. shower — rain
  8. kick — in football
  9. trunk — of a tree
  10. file — a document
  11. bulb — of a plant
  12. file — a line of people
  13. kick — with a leg
  14. kick — a thrill
  15. file — a tool
  16. bulb — for light
  17. current — of water
  18. shower — to wash
  19. spring — of water
  20. prune — the fruit
  21. prune — to trim
  22. bulb — for light
  23. current — electric
  24. spring — a coil

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