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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 is an ace ________________.
  2. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  3. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  4. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  5. How do you ________________ your surname?
  6. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  7. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  8. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  9. David sat on the ________________.
  10. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  11. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  12. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  13. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  14. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  15. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  16. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  17. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  18. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  19. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  20. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  21. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  22. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  23. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  24. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — in baseball
  2. safe — a strongbox
  3. prune — to trim
  4. branch — a division
  5. spell — letters
  6. file — a line of people
  7. kid — child
  8. swing — music
  9. swing — to play on
  10. pitcher — a jug
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. file — a tool
  13. safe — out of danger
  14. spell — magic
  15. prune — to trim
  16. file — a document
  17. branch — of a bank
  18. swing — in golf
  19. safe — out of danger
  20. spell — a short time
  21. kid — to tease
  22. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  23. prune — the fruit
  24. branch — of a tree

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