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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: wound · cue · prune · chair · staff · trunk · court · wind

  1. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  2. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  3. The ball is in your ________________.
  4. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  5. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  6. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  7. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  8. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  9. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  10. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  11. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  12. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  13. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  14. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  15. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  16. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  17. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  18. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  19. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  20. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  21. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  22. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  23. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  24. I've got the luggage in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cue — a hint
  2. staff — employees
  3. court — for sport
  4. cue — a signal
  5. wound — an injury
  6. court — of a king
  7. chair — a professorship
  8. wind — moving air
  9. wound — past of 'wind'
  10. wind — to turn a key
  11. prune — the fruit
  12. trunk — of an elephant
  13. prune — to trim
  14. cue — for pool
  15. wound — an injury
  16. prune — to trim
  17. chair — a leader
  18. staff — a stick
  19. wind — moving air
  20. chair — to sit on
  21. trunk — of a tree
  22. court — of law
  23. staff — employees
  24. trunk — of a car

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