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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. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  2. That must've been a ________________.
  3. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  4. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  5. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  6. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  7. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  8. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  9. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  10. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  11. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  12. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  13. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  14. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  15. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  16. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  17. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  18. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  19. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  20. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  21. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  22. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  23. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  24. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — hurry
  2. rush — a thrill
  3. hand — help
  4. spring — the season
  5. cap — a lid
  6. prune — to trim
  7. prune — to trim
  8. spring — a coil
  9. hand — in cards
  10. cap — of ice
  11. branch — of a bank
  12. net — for catching
  13. spring — of water
  14. rush — to hurry
  15. branch — a division
  16. pass — to spend time
  17. net — after costs
  18. prune — the fruit
  19. net — in sport
  20. pass — a permit
  21. cap — a hat
  22. pass — to succeed
  23. branch — of a tree
  24. hand — part of the body

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