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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: spring · ball · dip · land · prune · lean · trunk · fall

  1. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  2. The King held a masked ________________.
  3. When are we going to ________________?
  4. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  5. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  6. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  7. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  8. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  9. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  10. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  11. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  12. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  13. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  14. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  15. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  16. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  17. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  18. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  19. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  20. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  21. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  22. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  23. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  24. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — the season
  2. ball — a dance
  3. land — to come down
  4. fall — to drop
  5. ball — a great time
  6. lean — to bend
  7. spring — the season
  8. prune — the fruit
  9. prune — to trim
  10. spring — of water
  11. ball — a round shape
  12. spring — a coil
  13. fall — to drop
  14. lean — thin
  15. land — a country
  16. dip — to sink
  17. trunk — of a car
  18. trunk — of an elephant
  19. land — ground
  20. dip — a sauce
  21. dip — to dunk
  22. lean — to rest against
  23. prune — to trim
  24. trunk — of a tree

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