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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: land · pound · game · deal · prune · file · trunk · bat

  1. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  2. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  3. That was a fun ________________.
  4. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  5. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  6. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  7. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  8. When are we going to ________________?
  9. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  10. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  11. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  12. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  13. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  14. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  15. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  16. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  19. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  20. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  21. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  22. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a kind of play
  2. trunk — of an elephant
  3. game — a match
  4. land — a country
  5. bat — the animal
  6. deal — an agreement
  7. prune — the fruit
  8. land — to come down
  9. pound — a weight
  10. trunk — of a tree
  11. file — a line of people
  12. prune — to trim
  13. file — a tool
  14. pound — for dogs
  15. land — ground
  16. prune — to trim
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. file — a document
  19. deal — a big deal
  20. trunk — of a car
  21. pound — to hit hard
  22. game — wild animals
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. deal — to handle

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