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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: scale · cold · wake · cap · lean · trunk · pitcher · prune

  1. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  2. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  3. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  6. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  7. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  8. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  9. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  10. He is an ace ________________.
  11. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  14. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  15. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  16. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  17. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  18. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  19. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  20. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  23. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  24. Fill up this ________________ with water.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. cap — a hat
  4. cold — an illness
  5. scale — in music
  6. prune — to trim
  7. trunk — of a car
  8. lean — to bend
  9. lean — thin
  10. pitcher — in baseball
  11. prune — the fruit
  12. cold — not warm
  13. wake — before a funeral
  14. wake — to stop sleeping
  15. scale — size or range
  16. trunk — of an elephant
  17. scale — for weighing
  18. wake — a trail
  19. lean — to rest against
  20. cap — a lid
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. cap — of ice
  23. trunk — of a tree
  24. pitcher — a jug

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