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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: trunk · prune · date · net · tear · cell · capital · roll

  1. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  2. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  3. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  4. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  5. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  6. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  7. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  8. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  9. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  10. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  11. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  12. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  13. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  14. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  15. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  16. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  17. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  18. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  19. We're on a ________________ here.
  20. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  21. He was locked up in a ________________.
  22. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  23. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  24. Have you settled on a ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. date — on the calendar
  3. roll — a list
  4. prune — the fruit
  5. cell — in biology
  6. roll — a cake
  7. prune — to trim
  8. capital — money
  9. tear — from crying
  10. tear — to rip
  11. date — the fruit
  12. net — for catching
  13. capital — a city
  14. cell — a phone
  15. trunk — of a tree
  16. trunk — of an elephant
  17. prune — to trim
  18. net — after costs
  19. roll — on a roll
  20. net — in sport
  21. cell — in a prison
  22. trunk — of a car
  23. capital — a big letter
  24. date — on the calendar

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