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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: capital · trunk · bound · prune · tube · cell · file · hide

  1. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  2. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  3. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  4. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  5. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  6. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  7. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  8. I'll be taking the ________________.
  9. That was ________________ to happen.
  10. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  11. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  12. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  13. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  14. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  15. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  16. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  17. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  18. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  19. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  20. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  21. He was locked up in a ________________.
  22. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  23. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  24. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bound — tied together
  2. prune — to trim
  3. file — a tool
  4. file — a document
  5. cell — in biology
  6. tube — a container
  7. prune — the fruit
  8. tube — the underground
  9. bound — certain
  10. trunk — of an elephant
  11. tube — in a tire
  12. capital — a big letter
  13. cell — a phone
  14. trunk — of a car
  15. hide — to keep secret
  16. trunk — of a tree
  17. bound — obliged
  18. capital — a city
  19. hide — to keep secret
  20. hide — animal skin
  21. cell — in a prison
  22. prune — to trim
  23. capital — money
  24. file — a line of people

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