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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. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  2. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  3. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  4. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  5. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  6. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  7. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  8. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  9. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  10. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  11. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  12. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  13. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  14. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  15. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  16. When are we going to ________________?
  17. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  18. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  19. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  20. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  21. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  22. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  23. Don't do anything ________________.
  24. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — on the skin
  2. trunk — of a car
  3. rash — a series
  4. branch — of a bank
  5. trunk — of a tree
  6. land — ground
  7. file — a document
  8. prune — to trim
  9. trunk — of an elephant
  10. branch — of a tree
  11. prune — to trim
  12. racket — a loud noise
  13. file — a tool
  14. prune — the fruit
  15. racket — for tennis
  16. land — to come down
  17. snap — to snap out of it
  18. racket — for tennis
  19. land — a country
  20. snap — to click
  21. file — a line of people
  22. branch — a division
  23. rash — hasty
  24. snap — to speak sharply

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