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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: key · prune · race · sharp · last · field · shower · trunk

  1. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  2. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  5. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  6. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. False peace will not ________________.
  9. This piece is in a major ________________.
  10. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  11. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  12. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  13. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  14. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  15. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  16. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  17. It's one o'clock ________________.
  18. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  19. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  20. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  21. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  22. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  23. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  24. The elephant has a huge ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — rain
  2. prune — the fruit
  3. field — a subject
  4. trunk — of a tree
  5. last — final
  6. trunk — of a car
  7. field — farmland
  8. last — to go on
  9. key — in music
  10. key — for a lock
  11. key — the most important part
  12. shower — a meteor shower
  13. race — humankind
  14. last — finally
  15. prune — to trim
  16. race — a contest
  17. sharp — exactly
  18. race — the arms race
  19. sharp — with an edge
  20. shower — to wash
  21. sharp — clever
  22. field — for sport
  23. prune — to trim
  24. trunk — of an elephant

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