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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 120 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: field · content · fork · trunk · shower · foot · bass · prune

  1. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  2. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  4. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  5. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  6. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  7. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  8. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  9. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  10. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  11. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  12. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  15. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  16. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  17. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  18. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  19. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  20. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  21. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  22. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  23. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  24. The elephant has a huge ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. foot — a measure
  2. content — happy
  3. shower — rain
  4. shower — a meteor shower
  5. content — the amount
  6. fork — to eat with
  7. prune — to trim
  8. field — farmland
  9. content — videos and posts
  10. shower — to wash
  11. foot — part of the body
  12. foot — the bottom
  13. field — for sport
  14. fork — in a road
  15. fork — a garden tool
  16. trunk — of a tree
  17. bass — the instrument
  18. bass — low music
  19. prune — the fruit
  20. trunk — of a car
  21. bass — the fish
  22. field — a subject
  23. prune — to trim
  24. trunk — of an elephant

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