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

  1. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  2. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  5. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  6. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  7. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  8. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  9. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  12. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  13. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  14. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  15. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  16. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  17. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  18. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  19. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. Don't do anything ________________.
  22. She's very handy with a ________________.
  23. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  24. He works in a ________________ mill.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — a series
  2. rash — on the skin
  3. clip — for paper
  4. trunk — of a tree
  5. prune — to trim
  6. mine — an explosive
  7. branch — a division
  8. saw — past of 'see'
  9. prune — the fruit
  10. clip — to cut
  11. branch — of a bank
  12. trunk — of an elephant
  13. trunk — of a car
  14. mine — for digging
  15. bass — the fish
  16. mine — belonging to me
  17. bass — low music
  18. branch — of a tree
  19. bass — the instrument
  20. clip — a video
  21. rash — hasty
  22. saw — the tool
  23. prune — to trim
  24. saw — the tool

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