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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 · lie · prune · roll · degree · march · wind · trunk

  1. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  2. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  3. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  4. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  7. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  8. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  9. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  10. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  11. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  12. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  13. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  14. We're on a ________________ here.
  15. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  16. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  17. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  18. That was a fun ________________.
  19. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  20. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  21. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  22. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  23. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  24. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — to turn a key
  2. lie — to recline
  3. march — music
  4. lie — an untruth
  5. degree — from a university
  6. game — wild animals
  7. degree — temperature
  8. lie — an untruth
  9. wind — moving air
  10. trunk — of an elephant
  11. march — the month
  12. roll — a list
  13. prune — to trim
  14. roll — on a roll
  15. degree — an amount
  16. prune — the fruit
  17. march — the month
  18. game — a match
  19. trunk — of a tree
  20. wind — moving air
  21. game — a kind of play
  22. roll — a cake
  23. trunk — of a car
  24. prune — to trim

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