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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. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  2. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  3. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  4. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  5. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  6. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  7. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  8. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  9. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  10. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  11. The ________________ market has crashed.
  12. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  13. False peace will not ________________.
  14. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  15. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  16. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  17. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  18. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  19. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  20. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  21. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  22. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  23. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  24. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — of water
  2. rule — a law
  3. last — finally
  4. branch — of a bank
  5. spring — the season
  6. chair — a professorship
  7. stock — a soup base
  8. rule — to rule out
  9. prune — to trim
  10. calf — a young animal
  11. stock — shares
  12. prune — to trim
  13. last — to go on
  14. spring — a coil
  15. calf — a young animal
  16. calf — of the leg
  17. last — final
  18. stock — goods
  19. rule — government
  20. branch — a division
  21. prune — the fruit
  22. chair — a leader
  23. branch — of a tree
  24. chair — to sit on

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