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

Word bank: saw · land · content · prune · branch · snap · suit · track

  1. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  3. When will it ________________ you to start?
  4. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  5. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  6. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  7. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  8. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  9. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  10. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  11. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  12. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  13. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  14. When are we going to ________________?
  15. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  16. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  17. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  18. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  19. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  20. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  21. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  22. She's very handy with a ________________.
  23. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  24. He works in a ________________ mill.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. track — a song
  3. suit — to fit
  4. prune — to trim
  5. track — a path
  6. snap — to speak sharply
  7. track — to keep track
  8. branch — of a bank
  9. prune — the fruit
  10. content — the amount
  11. saw — past of 'see'
  12. prune — to trim
  13. content — videos and posts
  14. land — to come down
  15. snap — to snap out of it
  16. land — ground
  17. suit — in cards
  18. suit — clothes
  19. branch — a division
  20. land — a country
  21. snap — to click
  22. saw — the tool
  23. branch — of a tree
  24. saw — the tool

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