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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: game · lean · tear · tube · can · prune · season · trunk

  1. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  2. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  3. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  4. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  5. That was a fun ________________.
  6. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  7. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  8. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  9. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  10. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  11. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  12. I'll be taking the ________________.
  13. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  14. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  15. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  16. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  17. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  18. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  19. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  20. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  21. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  22. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  23. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  24. Did you ________________ the meat?

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. season — of the year
  3. prune — to trim
  4. lean — thin
  5. game — a match
  6. game — wild animals
  7. tear — to rip
  8. prune — the fruit
  9. can — to be able to
  10. tear — from crying
  11. can — a tin
  12. tube — the underground
  13. trunk — of an elephant
  14. game — a kind of play
  15. tear — from crying
  16. tube — in a tire
  17. lean — to rest against
  18. can — a tin
  19. lean — to bend
  20. season — in sport
  21. trunk — of a tree
  22. tube — a container
  23. trunk — of a car
  24. season — to add flavour

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