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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: band · trunk · sharp · season · court · prune · bound · hand

  1. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  2. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  3. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  4. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  5. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  6. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  7. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  8. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  9. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  10. The ball is in your ________________.
  11. Did you ________________ the meat?
  12. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  13. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  14. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  15. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  16. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  17. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  18. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  19. That was ________________ to happen.
  20. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  21. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  22. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  23. It's one o'clock ________________.
  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. hand — part of the body
  2. trunk — of an elephant
  3. season — of the year
  4. hand — help
  5. court — of law
  6. sharp — with an edge
  7. trunk — of a car
  8. season — in sport
  9. band — a music group
  10. court — for sport
  11. season — to add flavour
  12. bound — tied together
  13. trunk — of a tree
  14. prune — to trim
  15. hand — in cards
  16. sharp — clever
  17. bound — obliged
  18. band — a rubber band
  19. bound — certain
  20. band — a ring
  21. court — of a king
  22. prune — the fruit
  23. sharp — exactly
  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