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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. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  2. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  3. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  4. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  5. It's one o'clock ________________.
  6. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  7. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  8. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  9. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  10. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  11. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  12. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  13. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  14. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  15. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  18. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  19. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  20. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  21. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  22. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. A ________________ is just a dried plum.

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

Answer key

  1. branch — a division
  2. sharp — clever
  3. tear — to rip
  4. bear — to put up with
  5. sharp — exactly
  6. bear — the animal
  7. sharp — with an edge
  8. scale — for weighing
  9. stick — a piece of wood
  10. scale — size or range
  11. prune — to trim
  12. bear — the animal
  13. stick — to attach or keep to
  14. prune — to trim
  15. bat — the animal
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. scale — in music
  18. tear — from crying
  19. branch — of a bank
  20. branch — of a tree
  21. tear — from crying
  22. stick — a piece of wood
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. prune — the fruit

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