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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: bowl · prune · rash · spring · tear · cap · trunk · last

  1. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  2. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  3. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  4. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  5. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  8. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  9. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  10. Don't do anything ________________.
  11. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  12. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  13. False peace will not ________________.
  14. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  15. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  16. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  17. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  18. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  19. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  20. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  21. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  22. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  23. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  24. The polar ice ________________ is melting.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — of water
  2. cap — a hat
  3. tear — from crying
  4. prune — the fruit
  5. cap — a lid
  6. spring — a coil
  7. prune — to trim
  8. trunk — of a car
  9. trunk — of a tree
  10. rash — hasty
  11. tear — from crying
  12. rash — a series
  13. last — to go on
  14. bowl — a dish
  15. spring — the season
  16. bowl — a football final
  17. trunk — of an elephant
  18. rash — on the skin
  19. prune — to trim
  20. tear — to rip
  21. bowl — to roll
  22. last — final
  23. last — finally
  24. cap — of ice

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