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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: track · chest · trunk · cabinet · rash · game · degree · prune

  1. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  2. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  3. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  4. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  5. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  8. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  9. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  10. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  11. What do you think of the new ________________?
  12. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  13. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  14. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  15. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  16. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  17. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  18. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  19. That was a fun ________________.
  20. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  21. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  22. Don't do anything ________________.
  23. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  24. He keeps ________________ of his days.

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

Answer key

  1. track — a path
  2. prune — to trim
  3. chest — of your body
  4. degree — temperature
  5. trunk — of an elephant
  6. degree — from a university
  7. game — wild animals
  8. chest — of your body
  9. trunk — of a car
  10. rash — a series
  11. cabinet — ministers
  12. cabinet — a cupboard
  13. trunk — of a tree
  14. rash — on the skin
  15. prune — to trim
  16. game — a kind of play
  17. track — a song
  18. prune — the fruit
  19. game — a match
  20. cabinet — ministers
  21. degree — an amount
  22. rash — hasty
  23. chest — a box
  24. track — to keep track

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