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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: pound · roll · bank · prune · cold · trunk · mouse · row

  1. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  2. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  3. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  4. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  5. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  8. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  9. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  10. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  15. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  16. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  17. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  18. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  19. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  20. We're on a ________________ here.
  21. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  22. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  23. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  24. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bank — of a river
  2. pound — a weight
  3. prune — to trim
  4. roll — a cake
  5. row — a line
  6. cold — an illness
  7. pound — for dogs
  8. trunk — of an elephant
  9. mouse — for a computer
  10. prune — the fruit
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. trunk — of a car
  13. cold — not warm
  14. bank — for money
  15. prune — to trim
  16. roll — a list
  17. pound — to hit hard
  18. bank — for money
  19. trunk — of a tree
  20. roll — on a roll
  21. row — a quarrel
  22. row — to paddle
  23. mouse — the animal
  24. mouse — the animal

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