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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. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  2. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  3. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  4. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  5. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  6. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  7. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  8. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  9. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  10. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  11. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  12. I'll be taking the ________________.
  13. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  14. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  15. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  16. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  17. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  18. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  19. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  20. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  21. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  22. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  23. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  24. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.

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. prune — to trim
  4. march — music
  5. fall — to drop
  6. fall — the season
  7. tube — a container
  8. bear — to put up with
  9. prune — the fruit
  10. branch — a division
  11. bear — the animal
  12. tube — the underground
  13. hand — part of the body
  14. march — the month
  15. shower — a meteor shower
  16. shower — to wash
  17. branch — of a tree
  18. hand — help
  19. bear — the animal
  20. shower — rain
  21. hand — in cards
  22. tube — in a tire
  23. fall — to drop
  24. march — the month

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