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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 · trunk · prune · roll · bulb · board · kid · pitcher

  1. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  2. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  3. I've got to change the light ________________.
  4. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  5. We're on a ________________ here.
  6. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  7. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  8. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  9. He is an ace ________________.
  10. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  11. The light ________________ burned out.
  12. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  13. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  14. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  15. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  16. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  17. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  18. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  19. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  20. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  21. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  22. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  23. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  24. The elephant has a huge ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. board — to get on
  2. trunk — of a car
  3. bulb — for light
  4. march — music
  5. roll — on a roll
  6. prune — to trim
  7. prune — to trim
  8. roll — a cake
  9. pitcher — in baseball
  10. kid — child
  11. bulb — for light
  12. pitcher — a jug
  13. roll — a list
  14. bulb — of a plant
  15. kid — to tease
  16. board — a flat piece
  17. march — the month
  18. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. trunk — of a tree
  21. board — a committee
  22. prune — the fruit
  23. march — the month
  24. trunk — of an elephant

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