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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: trunk · pitcher · rash · mouse · prune · saw · net · cue

  1. Don't do anything ________________.
  2. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  3. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  4. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  5. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  6. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  7. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  8. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  9. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  10. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  11. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  12. He works in a ________________ mill.
  13. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  14. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  15. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  16. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  17. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  18. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  19. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  20. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  21. She's very handy with a ________________.
  22. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  23. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  24. He is an ace ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — hasty
  2. mouse — the animal
  3. net — after costs
  4. cue — a hint
  5. cue — a signal
  6. trunk — of an elephant
  7. mouse — for a computer
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. cue — for pool
  10. mouse — the animal
  11. rash — a series
  12. saw — the tool
  13. prune — to trim
  14. rash — on the skin
  15. prune — the fruit
  16. trunk — of a car
  17. net — in sport
  18. prune — to trim
  19. saw — past of 'see'
  20. net — for catching
  21. saw — the tool
  22. pitcher — a jug
  23. trunk — of a tree
  24. pitcher — in baseball

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