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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. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  3. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  6. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  9. That was ________________ to happen.
  10. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  11. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  12. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  13. This piece is in a major ________________.
  14. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  15. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  16. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  17. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  18. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  19. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  20. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  21. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  24. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. kick — with a leg
  3. key — the most important part
  4. cold — not warm
  5. branch — of a bank
  6. kick — a thrill
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. kick — in football
  9. bound — certain
  10. chip — in a computer
  11. chip — to eat
  12. branch — a division
  13. key — in music
  14. wax — to grow
  15. key — for a lock
  16. bound — tied together
  17. chip — for betting
  18. wax — for sculpting
  19. wax — in the ear
  20. bound — obliged
  21. prune — to trim
  22. cold — an illness
  23. prune — the fruit
  24. branch — of a tree

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