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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: snap · cap · wax · trunk · rush · wound · prune · game

  1. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  2. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  3. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  4. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  5. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  6. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  7. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  8. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  9. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  10. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  11. That must've been a ________________.
  12. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  13. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  14. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  15. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  16. That was a fun ________________.
  17. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  18. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  19. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  20. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  21. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  22. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  23. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  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. rush — hurry
  2. snap — to snap out of it
  3. wound — past of 'wind'
  4. wound — an injury
  5. trunk — of a car
  6. trunk — of a tree
  7. cap — of ice
  8. snap — to speak sharply
  9. wax — for sculpting
  10. cap — a lid
  11. rush — a thrill
  12. game — wild animals
  13. wax — to grow
  14. rush — to hurry
  15. snap — to click
  16. game — a match
  17. game — a kind of play
  18. prune — to trim
  19. prune — to trim
  20. wound — an injury
  21. cap — a hat
  22. wax — in the ear
  23. trunk — of an elephant
  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