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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: trunk · stem · pass · bass · prune · row · chest · leaves

  1. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  2. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  3. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  4. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  5. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  6. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  7. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  8. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  9. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  10. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  11. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  12. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  13. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  14. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  15. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  16. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  17. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  18. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  19. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  20. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  21. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  22. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  23. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  24. You can't go backstage without a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of an elephant
  2. pass — to succeed
  3. stem — to come from
  4. row — a quarrel
  5. prune — to trim
  6. chest — of your body
  7. row — to paddle
  8. trunk — of a tree
  9. row — a line
  10. chest — of your body
  11. pass — to spend time
  12. bass — the fish
  13. trunk — of a car
  14. prune — to trim
  15. bass — the instrument
  16. leaves — lets stay
  17. bass — low music
  18. stem — a stem cell
  19. prune — the fruit
  20. chest — a box
  21. leaves — to go away
  22. leaves — of a tree
  23. stem — of a plant
  24. pass — a permit

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