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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: straw · kid · shower · wax · stock · prune · net · trunk

  1. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  2. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  3. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  4. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  5. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  6. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  7. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  8. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  9. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  10. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  11. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  12. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  13. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  14. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  15. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  16. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  17. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  18. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  19. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  20. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  21. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  22. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  23. The ________________ market has crashed.
  24. He's taking a ________________ right now.

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of an elephant
  2. stock — a soup base
  3. shower — a meteor shower
  4. prune — to trim
  5. trunk — of a car
  6. kid — to tease
  7. wax — for sculpting
  8. net — in sport
  9. straw — to clutch at straws
  10. stock — goods
  11. straw — dry grass
  12. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  13. prune — the fruit
  14. wax — in the ear
  15. shower — rain
  16. straw — a straw man
  17. wax — to grow
  18. prune — to trim
  19. net — after costs
  20. net — for catching
  21. trunk — of a tree
  22. kid — child
  23. stock — shares
  24. shower — to wash

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