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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. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  2. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  3. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  4. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  5. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  6. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  7. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  8. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  9. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  10. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  11. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  12. David sat on the ________________.
  13. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  14. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  15. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  16. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  17. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  18. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  19. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  20. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  21. Have you found your soul ________________?
  22. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  23. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  24. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — to breed
  2. prune — to trim
  3. mate — a friend
  4. pound — for dogs
  5. hand — help
  6. branch — of a bank
  7. chest — of your body
  8. chest — a box
  9. hand — in cards
  10. chest — of your body
  11. swing — music
  12. swing — to play on
  13. bear — the animal
  14. hand — part of the body
  15. prune — the fruit
  16. pound — a weight
  17. bear — to put up with
  18. pound — to hit hard
  19. branch — a division
  20. prune — to trim
  21. mate — a partner
  22. bear — the animal
  23. branch — of a tree
  24. swing — in golf

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