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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: prune · nail · deal · game · trunk · object · hide · chest

  1. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  2. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  3. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  4. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  5. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  6. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  7. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  8. That was a fun ________________.
  9. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  10. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  11. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  12. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  13. The ________________ went through the wall.
  14. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  15. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  16. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  17. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  18. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  19. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  20. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  21. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  22. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  23. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  24. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.

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

Answer key

  1. deal — a big deal
  2. hide — to keep secret
  3. deal — to handle
  4. hide — to keep secret
  5. nail — for a hammer
  6. deal — an agreement
  7. prune — to trim
  8. game — a match
  9. object — a thing
  10. object — to protest
  11. prune — to trim
  12. chest — of your body
  13. nail — for a hammer
  14. object — an aim
  15. hide — animal skin
  16. game — a kind of play
  17. nail — on a finger
  18. trunk — of a car
  19. trunk — of a tree
  20. trunk — of an elephant
  21. game — wild animals
  22. prune — the fruit
  23. chest — a box
  24. chest — of your body

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