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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: pop · degree · patient · prune · wake · trunk · cap · ground

  1. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  2. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  3. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  4. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  5. There's no middle ________________.
  6. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  7. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  10. You don't need to ________________ round.
  11. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  12. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  13. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  14. We're almost out of ________________.
  15. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  16. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  17. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  18. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  21. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  22. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  23. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  24. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — to stop sleeping
  2. patient — calm and waiting
  3. prune — the fruit
  4. prune — to trim
  5. ground — a position
  6. wake — before a funeral
  7. trunk — of a tree
  8. degree — from a university
  9. cap — of ice
  10. pop — to visit
  11. ground — the earth
  12. cap — a hat
  13. pop — music
  14. pop — soda
  15. patient — a sick person
  16. ground — crushed
  17. trunk — of an elephant
  18. degree — an amount
  19. degree — temperature
  20. prune — to trim
  21. cap — a lid
  22. trunk — of a car
  23. wake — a trail
  24. patient — a sick person

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