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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 · snap · prune · club · squash · spring · straw · bound

  1. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  2. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  3. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  4. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  5. That was ________________ to happen.
  6. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  7. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  8. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  9. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  10. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  11. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  12. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  13. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  14. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  15. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  16. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  17. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  18. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  19. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  20. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  21. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  22. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  23. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  24. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the vegetable
  2. bound — tied together
  3. prune — the fruit
  4. spring — a coil
  5. bound — certain
  6. snap — to snap out of it
  7. bound — obliged
  8. club — for golf
  9. spring — the season
  10. straw — to clutch at straws
  11. squash — the sport
  12. snap — to click
  13. trunk — of a car
  14. trunk — of an elephant
  15. snap — to speak sharply
  16. club — for dancing
  17. straw — a straw man
  18. straw — dry grass
  19. trunk — of a tree
  20. squash — to crush
  21. club — a group
  22. prune — to trim
  23. spring — of water
  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