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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 120 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. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  2. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  3. How do you ________________ your surname?
  4. Did you ________________ the meat?
  5. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  6. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  7. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  8. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  9. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  10. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  11. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  14. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  15. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  18. Where did you ________________ them?
  19. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  20. I'll be taking the ________________.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  23. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  24. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.

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

Answer key

  1. branch — of a tree
  2. prune — to trim
  3. spell — letters
  4. season — to add flavour
  5. prune — the fruit
  6. spell — a short time
  7. trunk — of a car
  8. season — in sport
  9. prune — to trim
  10. mug — a face
  11. spell — magic
  12. cold — not warm
  13. season — of the year
  14. mug — a cup
  15. trunk — of a tree
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. branch — of a bank
  18. mug — to rob
  19. trunk — of an elephant
  20. tube — the underground
  21. cold — an illness
  22. tube — a container
  23. branch — a division
  24. tube — in a tire

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