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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: swing · prune · trunk · game · pound · row · fork · wake

  1. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  2. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  3. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  4. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  5. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  6. David sat on the ________________.
  7. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  8. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  9. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  10. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  11. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  12. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  13. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  14. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  15. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  16. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  17. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  18. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  19. That was a fun ________________.
  20. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  21. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  22. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  23. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  24. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a line
  2. game — a kind of play
  3. pound — to hit hard
  4. wake — a trail
  5. prune — to trim
  6. swing — to play on
  7. wake — before a funeral
  8. fork — a garden tool
  9. fork — to eat with
  10. fork — in a road
  11. pound — for dogs
  12. prune — the fruit
  13. trunk — of an elephant
  14. row — a quarrel
  15. wake — to stop sleeping
  16. swing — in golf
  17. trunk — of a car
  18. trunk — of a tree
  19. game — a match
  20. game — wild animals
  21. pound — a weight
  22. row — to paddle
  23. swing — music
  24. prune — to trim

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