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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. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  2. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  3. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  4. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  5. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  6. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  7. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  10. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  11. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  12. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  13. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  16. That must've been a ________________.
  17. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  18. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. Have you met the new head ________________?
  21. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  22. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  23. The ________________ went through the wall.
  24. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — hurry
  2. prune — to trim
  3. march — the month
  4. foot — part of the body
  5. prune — the fruit
  6. branch — a division
  7. rush — to hurry
  8. clip — to cut
  9. foot — the bottom
  10. march — the month
  11. branch — of a bank
  12. coach — pulled by horses
  13. nail — for a hammer
  14. clip — for paper
  15. nail — on a finger
  16. rush — a thrill
  17. foot — a measure
  18. branch — of a tree
  19. clip — a video
  20. coach — a trainer
  21. prune — to trim
  22. coach — a trainer
  23. nail — for a hammer
  24. march — music

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