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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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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: march · content · trunk · fall · game · prune · pitcher · squash

  1. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  2. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  3. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  4. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  5. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  6. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  7. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  8. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  9. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  10. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  11. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  12. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  13. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  14. That was a fun ________________.
  15. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  16. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  17. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  18. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  19. He is an ace ________________.
  20. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  21. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  22. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  23. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  24. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. game — wild animals
  3. squash — the vegetable
  4. content — videos and posts
  5. squash — the sport
  6. trunk — of a car
  7. content — happy
  8. prune — to trim
  9. march — the month
  10. trunk — of an elephant
  11. fall — to drop
  12. fall — to drop
  13. content — the amount
  14. game — a match
  15. march — music
  16. pitcher — a jug
  17. prune — the fruit
  18. fall — the season
  19. pitcher — in baseball
  20. trunk — of a tree
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. march — the month
  23. game — a kind of play
  24. squash — to crush

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