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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.

Make a worksheet

Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

Words on the sheet
468
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: wake · trunk · prune · file · bear · scale · cold · bass

  1. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  2. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  3. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  4. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  7. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  8. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  11. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  12. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  13. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  14. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  15. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  16. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  17. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  18. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  21. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  22. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  23. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  24. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of a car
  2. bass — the fish
  3. bear — the animal
  4. prune — to trim
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. file — a line of people
  7. bass — the instrument
  8. wake — to stop sleeping
  9. cold — an illness
  10. wake — before a funeral
  11. file — a tool
  12. scale — size or range
  13. wake — a trail
  14. prune — the fruit
  15. bear — the animal
  16. bass — low music
  17. bear — to put up with
  18. scale — for weighing
  19. cold — not warm
  20. prune — to trim
  21. trunk — of a tree
  22. trunk — of an elephant
  23. scale — in music
  24. file — a document

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