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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 · temple · scale · swing · prune · rash · row · roll

  1. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  2. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  3. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  4. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  5. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  6. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  7. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  8. David sat on the ________________.
  9. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  10. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  11. Don't do anything ________________.
  12. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  13. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  14. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  15. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  16. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  17. We're on a ________________ here.
  18. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  19. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  20. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  21. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  22. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  23. When was this ________________ built?
  24. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. roll — a cake
  3. rash — on the skin
  4. scale — size or range
  5. trunk — of a car
  6. scale — in music
  7. trunk — of an elephant
  8. swing — to play on
  9. temple — a place of worship
  10. prune — the fruit
  11. rash — hasty
  12. row — a quarrel
  13. rash — a series
  14. temple — side of the head
  15. scale — for weighing
  16. row — to paddle
  17. roll — on a roll
  18. roll — a list
  19. trunk — of a tree
  20. swing — in golf
  21. swing — music
  22. prune — to trim
  23. temple — a place of worship
  24. row — a line

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