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

Word bank: court · snap · fall · straw · wound · prune · root · trunk

  1. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  2. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  3. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  4. The ball is in your ________________.
  5. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  6. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  7. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  8. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  9. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  10. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  11. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  12. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  13. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  14. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  15. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  16. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  17. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  18. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  19. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  20. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  21. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  22. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  23. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  24. We ________________ up on opposing sides.

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of a car
  2. court — of law
  3. prune — to trim
  4. court — for sport
  5. prune — the fruit
  6. straw — to clutch at straws
  7. snap — to click
  8. root — of a plant
  9. fall — the season
  10. fall — to drop
  11. fall — to drop
  12. root — of a word
  13. court — of a king
  14. straw — dry grass
  15. root — the cause
  16. straw — a straw man
  17. wound — an injury
  18. snap — to snap out of it
  19. snap — to speak sharply
  20. wound — an injury
  21. trunk — of a tree
  22. trunk — of an elephant
  23. prune — to trim
  24. wound — past of 'wind'

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