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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 116 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: bat · cell · prune · trunk · track · staff · wound · ground

  1. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  2. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  3. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  4. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  5. There's no middle ________________.
  6. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  7. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  8. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  9. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  10. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  11. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  12. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  13. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  14. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  15. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  16. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  17. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  18. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  19. He was locked up in a ________________.
  20. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  21. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  22. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  24. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — for baseball
  2. cell — in biology
  3. ground — crushed
  4. bat — in an idiom
  5. ground — a position
  6. prune — the fruit
  7. track — to keep track
  8. trunk — of an elephant
  9. staff — a stick
  10. ground — the earth
  11. trunk — of a tree
  12. wound — past of 'wind'
  13. cell — a phone
  14. track — a song
  15. prune — to trim
  16. staff — employees
  17. track — a path
  18. trunk — of a car
  19. cell — in a prison
  20. wound — an injury
  21. wound — an injury
  22. staff — employees
  23. bat — the animal
  24. prune — to trim

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