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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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468
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: fan · cabinet · mine · trunk · land · content · prune · plane

  1. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  2. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  3. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  4. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  5. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  6. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  7. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  8. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  9. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  10. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  11. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  12. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  13. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  14. The ________________ took off on time.
  15. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  16. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  17. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  18. When are we going to ________________?
  19. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  20. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  21. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  22. What do you think of the new ________________?
  23. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  24. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. prune — to trim
  3. land — a country
  4. content — the amount
  5. land — ground
  6. fan — a supporter
  7. trunk — of a car
  8. mine — an explosive
  9. fan — a supporter
  10. plane — a tool
  11. cabinet — a cupboard
  12. prune — the fruit
  13. content — videos and posts
  14. plane — an aircraft
  15. plane — in geometry
  16. fan — to cool the air
  17. content — happy
  18. land — to come down
  19. cabinet — ministers
  20. trunk — of an elephant
  21. mine — belonging to me
  22. cabinet — ministers
  23. mine — for digging
  24. trunk — of a tree

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