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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 116 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: fine · court · track · trunk · wound · pop · prune · cell

  1. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  2. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  3. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  4. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  5. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  6. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  7. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  8. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  9. You don't need to ________________ round.
  10. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  11. The ball is in your ________________.
  12. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  13. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  14. He was locked up in a ________________.
  15. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  16. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  17. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  18. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  19. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  20. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  21. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  22. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  23. We're almost out of ________________.
  24. The elephant has a huge ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of law
  2. fine — a penalty
  3. prune — to trim
  4. wound — past of 'wind'
  5. fine — high quality
  6. track — a song
  7. cell — a phone
  8. wound — an injury
  9. pop — to visit
  10. track — a path
  11. court — for sport
  12. prune — to trim
  13. track — to keep track
  14. cell — in a prison
  15. trunk — of a car
  16. cell — in biology
  17. trunk — of a tree
  18. pop — music
  19. wound — an injury
  20. fine — all right
  21. prune — the fruit
  22. court — of a king
  23. pop — soda
  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