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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 124 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. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  2. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  3. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  4. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  5. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  6. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  7. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  8. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  9. There's no middle ________________.
  10. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  11. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  12. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  13. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  14. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  15. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  16. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  17. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  18. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  19. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  20. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  21. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  22. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  23. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  24. The flowers bloom in the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. toast — the most admired
  2. prune — to trim
  3. toast — a drink to someone
  4. track — a song
  5. spring — of water
  6. lash — a whip stroke
  7. lash — an eyelash
  8. branch — of a tree
  9. ground — a position
  10. prune — to trim
  11. prune — the fruit
  12. spring — a coil
  13. ground — crushed
  14. toast — bread
  15. trunk — of a tree
  16. branch — of a bank
  17. track — to keep track
  18. lash — to lash out
  19. trunk — of an elephant
  20. track — a path
  21. trunk — of a car
  22. branch — a division
  23. ground — the earth
  24. spring — the season

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