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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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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: trunk · cap · capital · cue · prune · wound · mine · snap

  1. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  2. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  3. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  4. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  5. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  6. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  7. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  8. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  9. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  10. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  11. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  12. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  13. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  14. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  15. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  16. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  17. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  18. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  19. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  20. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  21. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  22. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  23. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  24. A ________________ is just a dried plum.

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of an elephant
  2. cap — of ice
  3. cap — a hat
  4. prune — to trim
  5. cue — for pool
  6. mine — for digging
  7. cue — a signal
  8. mine — an explosive
  9. mine — belonging to me
  10. cap — a lid
  11. wound — past of 'wind'
  12. cue — a hint
  13. wound — an injury
  14. snap — to snap out of it
  15. snap — to speak sharply
  16. capital — a big letter
  17. capital — a city
  18. capital — money
  19. trunk — of a car
  20. prune — to trim
  21. snap — to click
  22. trunk — of a tree
  23. wound — an injury
  24. prune — the fruit

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