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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. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  2. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  3. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  4. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  5. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  6. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  7. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  8. He is an ace ________________.
  9. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  10. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  11. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  12. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  13. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  14. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  15. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  16. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  17. The ball is in your ________________.
  18. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  19. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  20. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  21. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  22. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  23. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  24. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. branch — of a tree
  3. chest — of your body
  4. branch — of a bank
  5. court — of law
  6. chest — of your body
  7. cap — a hat
  8. pitcher — in baseball
  9. dip — to dunk
  10. prune — the fruit
  11. wind — to turn a key
  12. chest — a box
  13. branch — a division
  14. wind — moving air
  15. prune — to trim
  16. cap — a lid
  17. court — for sport
  18. dip — a sauce
  19. dip — to sink
  20. cap — of ice
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. court — of a king
  23. wind — moving air
  24. pitcher — a jug

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