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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 116 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. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  3. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  4. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  5. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  6. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  7. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  8. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  9. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  10. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  11. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  12. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  13. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  14. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  15. That must've been a ________________.
  16. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  19. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  22. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  23. He was locked up in a ________________.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. branch — a division
  2. prune — the fruit
  3. face — part of the head
  4. prune — to trim
  5. capital — money
  6. capital — a city
  7. prune — to trim
  8. pit — a fruit stone
  9. pit — in a race
  10. rush — to hurry
  11. face — to point toward
  12. capital — a big letter
  13. rush — hurry
  14. face — to confront
  15. rush — a thrill
  16. branch — of a bank
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. pit — a hole
  19. cell — a phone
  20. cold — an illness
  21. branch — of a tree
  22. cell — in biology
  23. cell — in a prison
  24. cold — not warm

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