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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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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've got the luggage in my ________________.
  2. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  3. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  4. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  5. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  6. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  7. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  8. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  9. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  10. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  11. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  12. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  13. Did you ________________ the meat?
  14. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  15. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  16. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  17. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  18. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  19. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  20. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  21. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  22. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  23. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  24. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of a car
  2. season — in sport
  3. band — a music group
  4. bark — of a tree
  5. prune — the fruit
  6. wound — an injury
  7. prune — to trim
  8. band — a ring
  9. season — of the year
  10. bark — to shout
  11. trunk — of a tree
  12. pitch — a sales talk
  13. season — to add flavour
  14. tear — from crying
  15. prune — to trim
  16. tear — to rip
  17. bark — a dog's sound
  18. tear — from crying
  19. trunk — of an elephant
  20. pitch — a sports field
  21. band — a rubber band
  22. wound — past of 'wind'
  23. wound — an injury
  24. pitch — completely

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