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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: bat · hand · prune · dip · mine · lie · can · trunk

  1. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  2. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  3. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  4. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  5. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  6. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  7. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  8. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  9. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  12. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  13. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  14. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  15. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  16. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  17. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  18. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  19. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  20. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  21. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  22. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  23. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — in cards
  2. mine — an explosive
  3. mine — belonging to me
  4. trunk — of an elephant
  5. hand — help
  6. can — to be able to
  7. trunk — of a tree
  8. mine — for digging
  9. dip — to dunk
  10. bat — the animal
  11. trunk — of a car
  12. can — a tin
  13. lie — to recline
  14. dip — a sauce
  15. prune — the fruit
  16. lie — an untruth
  17. bat — in an idiom
  18. hand — part of the body
  19. prune — to trim
  20. dip — to sink
  21. can — a tin
  22. lie — an untruth
  23. prune — to trim
  24. bat — for baseball

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