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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: content · bound · cabinet · rest · prune · mine · scale · trunk

  1. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  2. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  4. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  5. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  6. What do you think of the new ________________?
  7. That was ________________ to happen.
  8. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  9. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  10. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  11. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  12. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  13. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  14. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  15. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  16. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  17. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  18. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  19. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  20. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  21. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  22. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  23. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  24. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.

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

Answer key

  1. scale — size or range
  2. content — happy
  3. mine — for digging
  4. bound — tied together
  5. rest — what's left
  6. cabinet — ministers
  7. bound — certain
  8. content — the amount
  9. mine — an explosive
  10. prune — to trim
  11. prune — to trim
  12. cabinet — ministers
  13. content — videos and posts
  14. prune — the fruit
  15. trunk — of an elephant
  16. trunk — of a tree
  17. rest — a break
  18. scale — in music
  19. trunk — of a car
  20. cabinet — a cupboard
  21. scale — for weighing
  22. rest — what's left
  23. bound — obliged
  24. mine — belonging to me

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