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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 116 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. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  2. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  3. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  4. There's no middle ________________.
  5. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  6. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  7. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  8. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  9. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  10. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  11. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  12. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  13. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  14. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  15. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  16. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  17. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  18. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  19. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  20. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  21. When are we going to ________________?
  22. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  23. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  24. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — the fruit
  2. branch — a division
  3. branch — of a tree
  4. ground — a position
  5. track — a song
  6. prune — to trim
  7. straw — dry grass
  8. capital — money
  9. straw — a straw man
  10. ground — the earth
  11. wave — with your hand
  12. track — a path
  13. capital — a city
  14. land — ground
  15. branch — of a bank
  16. ground — crushed
  17. wave — of the sea
  18. prune — to trim
  19. wave — a sudden rise
  20. land — a country
  21. land — to come down
  22. capital — a big letter
  23. track — to keep track
  24. straw — to clutch at straws

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