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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: fork · lash · march · trunk · mine · prune · shower · cell

  1. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  2. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  3. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  4. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  5. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  6. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  7. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  8. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  9. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  10. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  11. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  12. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  13. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  14. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  15. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  16. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  17. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  18. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  19. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  20. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  21. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  22. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  23. He was locked up in a ________________.
  24. She's sitting on a gold ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of a car
  2. trunk — of a tree
  3. trunk — of an elephant
  4. lash — an eyelash
  5. cell — a phone
  6. lash — to lash out
  7. mine — an explosive
  8. prune — to trim
  9. shower — rain
  10. prune — the fruit
  11. march — music
  12. fork — a garden tool
  13. fork — in a road
  14. lash — a whip stroke
  15. march — the month
  16. cell — in biology
  17. prune — to trim
  18. mine — belonging to me
  19. shower — a meteor shower
  20. march — the month
  21. shower — to wash
  22. fork — to eat with
  23. cell — in a prison
  24. mine — for digging

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