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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. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  2. What do you think of the new ________________?
  3. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  4. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  5. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  6. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  9. The King held a masked ________________.
  10. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  11. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  12. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  13. How do you ________________ your surname?
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  16. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  17. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  18. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  19. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  20. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  21. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  24. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. cabinet — ministers
  3. branch — of a tree
  4. cue — a signal
  5. branch — a division
  6. spell — a short time
  7. cold — not warm
  8. cue — a hint
  9. ball — a dance
  10. ball — a great time
  11. ball — a round shape
  12. cabinet — a cupboard
  13. spell — letters
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. prune — the fruit
  16. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  17. prune — to trim
  18. cue — for pool
  19. cabinet — ministers
  20. kid — to tease
  21. kid — child
  22. cold — an illness
  23. spell — magic
  24. branch — of a bank

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