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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. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  4. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  5. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  6. This piece is in a major ________________.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  9. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  10. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  11. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  12. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  13. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  14. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  15. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  16. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  17. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  18. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. The ball is in your ________________.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  24. Boris sat near the fire ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. branch — of a tree
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. scale — in music
  4. prune — to trim
  5. pit — a fruit stone
  6. key — in music
  7. cold — not warm
  8. scale — for weighing
  9. key — for a lock
  10. key — the most important part
  11. court — of a king
  12. branch — of a bank
  13. branch — a division
  14. prune — the fruit
  15. prune — to trim
  16. scale — size or range
  17. court — of law
  18. pit — in a race
  19. clip — to cut
  20. clip — a video
  21. court — for sport
  22. cold — an illness
  23. clip — for paper
  24. pit — a hole

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