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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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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: prune · bore · mine · branch · kick · capital

  1. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  2. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  3. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  6. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  7. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  8. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  9. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  10. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  11. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  12. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  13. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  14. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  15. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  16. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  17. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  18. Biology is a ________________ of science.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — a thrill
  2. mine — belonging to me
  3. mine — for digging
  4. capital — a city
  5. capital — a big letter
  6. kick — with a leg
  7. prune — to trim
  8. bore — gave birth
  9. kick — in football
  10. prune — to trim
  11. capital — money
  12. bore — to tire
  13. bore — to drill
  14. branch — of a bank
  15. prune — the fruit
  16. branch — of a tree
  17. mine — an explosive
  18. branch — a division

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