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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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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: prune · court · pass · capital · stock · trunk · swing · season

  1. The ________________ market has crashed.
  2. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  3. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  4. David sat on the ________________.
  5. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  6. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  7. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  8. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  9. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  10. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  11. Did you ________________ the meat?
  12. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  13. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  14. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  15. The ball is in your ________________.
  16. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  17. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  18. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  19. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  20. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  21. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  22. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  23. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  24. You can't go backstage without a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — shares
  2. prune — the fruit
  3. capital — money
  4. swing — to play on
  5. stock — goods
  6. season — in sport
  7. court — of law
  8. stock — a soup base
  9. pass — to succeed
  10. swing — in golf
  11. season — to add flavour
  12. prune — to trim
  13. capital — a big letter
  14. pass — to spend time
  15. court — for sport
  16. prune — to trim
  17. court — of a king
  18. capital — a city
  19. trunk — of a car
  20. season — of the year
  21. trunk — of a tree
  22. swing — music
  23. trunk — of an elephant
  24. pass — a permit

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