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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 116 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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  2. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  3. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  4. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  5. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  6. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  7. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  8. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  9. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  10. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  11. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  12. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  13. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  14. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  15. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  16. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  17. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  18. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. branch — of a bank
  3. fine — a penalty
  4. fine — all right
  5. capital — money
  6. rule — a law
  7. capital — a city
  8. fine — high quality
  9. prune — to trim
  10. branch — of a tree
  11. spring — the season
  12. branch — a division
  13. capital — a big letter
  14. prune — the fruit
  15. rule — government
  16. spring — a coil
  17. spring — of water
  18. rule — to rule out

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