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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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468
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: prune · cabinet · row · swing · shower · cell · game · trunk

  1. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  3. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  4. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  5. David sat on the ________________.
  6. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  7. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  8. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  9. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  10. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  11. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  12. He was locked up in a ________________.
  13. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  14. What do you think of the new ________________?
  15. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  16. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  17. That was a fun ________________.
  18. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  19. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  20. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  21. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  22. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  23. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  24. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. cell — a phone
  3. trunk — of a tree
  4. game — wild animals
  5. swing — to play on
  6. row — a line
  7. swing — music
  8. game — a kind of play
  9. prune — to trim
  10. shower — a meteor shower
  11. trunk — of a car
  12. cell — in a prison
  13. trunk — of an elephant
  14. cabinet — ministers
  15. shower — rain
  16. cabinet — ministers
  17. game — a match
  18. prune — the fruit
  19. swing — in golf
  20. row — a quarrel
  21. row — to paddle
  22. prune — to trim
  23. cell — in biology
  24. cabinet — a cupboard

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