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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 120 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: wind · trunk · season · straw · prune · court · bank · wound

  1. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  2. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  3. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  4. Did you ________________ the meat?
  5. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  6. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  7. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  8. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  9. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  10. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  11. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  12. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  13. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  14. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  15. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  16. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  17. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  18. The ball is in your ________________.
  19. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  20. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  21. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  22. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  23. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  24. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — past of 'wind'
  2. wind — moving air
  3. bank — for money
  4. season — to add flavour
  5. trunk — of an elephant
  6. wound — an injury
  7. wind — to turn a key
  8. prune — to trim
  9. season — of the year
  10. trunk — of a car
  11. prune — the fruit
  12. court — of law
  13. season — in sport
  14. straw — a straw man
  15. bank — for money
  16. straw — dry grass
  17. wound — an injury
  18. court — for sport
  19. straw — to clutch at straws
  20. bank — of a river
  21. court — of a king
  22. wind — moving air
  23. prune — to trim
  24. trunk — of a tree

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