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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: mug · prune · squash · trunk · spell · sharp · race · chest

  1. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  2. It's one o'clock ________________.
  3. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  4. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  5. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  6. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  7. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  8. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  9. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  10. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  11. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  12. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  13. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  14. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  15. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  16. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  17. Where did you ________________ them?
  18. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  19. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  20. How do you ________________ your surname?
  21. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  22. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  23. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  24. He refilled his coffee ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. sharp — exactly
  3. squash — the sport
  4. chest — of your body
  5. chest — of your body
  6. trunk — of a car
  7. chest — a box
  8. squash — to crush
  9. race — the arms race
  10. prune — to trim
  11. trunk — of a tree
  12. trunk — of an elephant
  13. race — humankind
  14. sharp — clever
  15. spell — a short time
  16. spell — magic
  17. mug — to rob
  18. sharp — with an edge
  19. squash — the vegetable
  20. spell — letters
  21. race — a contest
  22. prune — the fruit
  23. mug — a face
  24. mug — a cup

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