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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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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: trunk · prune · charge · court · spring · wind · season · last

  1. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  2. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  3. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  4. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  5. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  6. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  7. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  8. Did you ________________ the meat?
  9. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  10. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  11. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  12. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  13. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  14. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  15. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  16. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  17. The ball is in your ________________.
  18. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  19. False peace will not ________________.
  20. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  21. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  22. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  23. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  24. The tickets are free of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. last — final
  2. wind — moving air
  3. spring — the season
  4. wind — to turn a key
  5. prune — the fruit
  6. trunk — of an elephant
  7. prune — to trim
  8. season — to add flavour
  9. charge — electricity
  10. season — in sport
  11. prune — to trim
  12. spring — of water
  13. wind — moving air
  14. court — of a king
  15. trunk — of a car
  16. season — of the year
  17. court — for sport
  18. trunk — of a tree
  19. last — to go on
  20. court — of law
  21. last — finally
  22. charge — in control
  23. spring — a coil
  24. charge — a price

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