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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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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: degree · deal · chair · prune · swing · capital · bat · trunk

  1. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  2. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  3. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  4. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  5. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  6. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  7. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  8. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  9. David sat on the ________________.
  10. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  11. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  12. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  13. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  14. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  15. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  16. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  17. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  18. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  19. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  20. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  21. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  22. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  23. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  24. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of a tree
  2. prune — to trim
  3. prune — to trim
  4. bat — in an idiom
  5. swing — in golf
  6. chair — a leader
  7. deal — a big deal
  8. prune — the fruit
  9. swing — to play on
  10. capital — a big letter
  11. trunk — of an elephant
  12. chair — a professorship
  13. deal — to handle
  14. degree — temperature
  15. degree — from a university
  16. degree — an amount
  17. swing — music
  18. bat — the animal
  19. capital — a city
  20. bat — for baseball
  21. trunk — of a car
  22. chair — to sit on
  23. capital — money
  24. deal — an agreement

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