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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: wind · march · last · wound · trunk · prune · spell · bowl

  1. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  2. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  3. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  4. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  5. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  6. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  7. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  8. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  9. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  10. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  11. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  12. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  13. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  14. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  15. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  16. False peace will not ________________.
  17. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  18. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  19. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  20. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  21. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  22. How do you ________________ your surname?
  23. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  24. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. wind — moving air
  3. spell — magic
  4. trunk — of an elephant
  5. last — final
  6. prune — the fruit
  7. trunk — of a car
  8. prune — to trim
  9. wound — an injury
  10. spell — a short time
  11. last — finally
  12. wind — moving air
  13. wound — past of 'wind'
  14. march — music
  15. prune — to trim
  16. last — to go on
  17. trunk — of a tree
  18. bowl — a football final
  19. bowl — to roll
  20. wind — to turn a key
  21. wound — an injury
  22. spell — letters
  23. march — the month
  24. bowl — a dish

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