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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: march · present · bore · stock · capital · prune · trunk · game

  1. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  2. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  3. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  4. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  5. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  6. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  7. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  8. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  9. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  10. That was a fun ________________.
  11. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  12. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  13. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  14. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  15. The ________________ market has crashed.
  16. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  17. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  18. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  19. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  20. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  21. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  22. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  23. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  24. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. present — there
  2. prune — to trim
  3. trunk — of an elephant
  4. stock — a soup base
  5. stock — goods
  6. present — a gift
  7. march — music
  8. capital — a big letter
  9. bore — to tire
  10. game — a match
  11. prune — to trim
  12. trunk — of a tree
  13. march — the month
  14. capital — a city
  15. stock — shares
  16. capital — money
  17. prune — the fruit
  18. game — a kind of play
  19. bore — to drill
  20. bore — gave birth
  21. game — wild animals
  22. trunk — of a car
  23. present — the time now
  24. march — the month

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