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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. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  2. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  3. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  4. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  5. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  6. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  7. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  8. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  9. Did you ________________ the meat?
  10. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  11. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  12. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  13. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  14. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  15. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  16. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  17. False peace will not ________________.
  18. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  19. The ________________ took off on time.
  20. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  21. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  22. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  23. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  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. scale — in music
  2. last — final
  3. season — of the year
  4. track — a song
  5. track — to keep track
  6. scale — for weighing
  7. last — finally
  8. prune — to trim
  9. season — to add flavour
  10. stem — of a plant
  11. scale — size or range
  12. branch — of a bank
  13. prune — to trim
  14. track — a path
  15. prune — the fruit
  16. season — in sport
  17. last — to go on
  18. stem — a stem cell
  19. plane — an aircraft
  20. plane — a tool
  21. stem — to come from
  22. plane — in geometry
  23. branch — a division
  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