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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. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  2. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  3. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  4. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  5. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  6. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  7. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  8. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  9. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  10. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  11. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  14. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  15. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  16. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  17. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  18. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  21. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  22. My father caught me by the ________________.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. The train ________________ at six o'clock.

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

Answer key

  1. branch — a division
  2. fine — a penalty
  3. prune — the fruit
  4. prune — to trim
  5. leaves — of a tree
  6. prune — to trim
  7. wind — moving air
  8. wind — to turn a key
  9. wake — before a funeral
  10. leaves — lets stay
  11. arm — part of the body
  12. cold — not warm
  13. branch — of a tree
  14. wake — to stop sleeping
  15. branch — of a bank
  16. fine — all right
  17. wind — moving air
  18. fine — high quality
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. wake — a trail
  21. arm — a part of something
  22. arm — part of the body
  23. cold — an illness
  24. leaves — to go away

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