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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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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: march · prune · board · key · tear · trunk · bound · shower

  1. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  2. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  3. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  4. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  5. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  6. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  7. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  8. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  9. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  10. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  11. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  12. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  13. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  14. That was ________________ to happen.
  15. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  16. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  17. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  18. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  19. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  20. This piece is in a major ________________.
  21. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  22. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  23. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  24. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?

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

Answer key

  1. board — a flat piece
  2. key — the most important part
  3. march — music
  4. board — to get on
  5. tear — from crying
  6. board — a committee
  7. march — the month
  8. tear — from crying
  9. prune — to trim
  10. shower — to wash
  11. prune — the fruit
  12. bound — tied together
  13. shower — rain
  14. bound — certain
  15. trunk — of a tree
  16. march — the month
  17. trunk — of a car
  18. tear — to rip
  19. shower — a meteor shower
  20. key — in music
  21. prune — to trim
  22. bound — obliged
  23. trunk — of an elephant
  24. key — for a lock

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