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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: prune · trunk · land · drill · tear · dip · object · mine

  1. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  2. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  3. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  4. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  5. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  6. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  7. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  8. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  9. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  10. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  11. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  12. When are we going to ________________?
  13. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  14. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  15. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  16. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  17. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  18. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  19. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  20. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  21. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  22. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  23. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  24. A ________________ is just a dried plum.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — for digging
  2. dip — a sauce
  3. tear — from crying
  4. trunk — of an elephant
  5. trunk — of a tree
  6. tear — from crying
  7. land — ground
  8. dip — to sink
  9. dip — to dunk
  10. drill — a practice
  11. object — a thing
  12. land — to come down
  13. mine — belonging to me
  14. object — to protest
  15. drill — the tool
  16. prune — to trim
  17. tear — to rip
  18. trunk — of a car
  19. object — an aim
  20. land — a country
  21. drill — army training
  22. prune — to trim
  23. mine — an explosive
  24. prune — the fruit

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