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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: cap · fork · branch · court · prune · spring

  1. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  2. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  3. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  4. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  5. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  6. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  7. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  8. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  9. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  10. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  11. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  12. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  13. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  14. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  15. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  16. The ball is in your ________________.
  17. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  18. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — a garden tool
  2. cap — a lid
  3. prune — to trim
  4. prune — the fruit
  5. cap — a hat
  6. cap — of ice
  7. branch — of a bank
  8. fork — to eat with
  9. spring — the season
  10. court — of a king
  11. fork — in a road
  12. branch — a division
  13. spring — a coil
  14. court — of law
  15. branch — of a tree
  16. court — for sport
  17. spring — of water
  18. prune — to trim

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