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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 124 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: branch · pop · swing · jam · squash · prune · firm · degree

  1. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  2. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  3. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  4. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  5. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  6. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  7. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  8. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  9. You don't need to ________________ round.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  12. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  13. David sat on the ________________.
  14. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  15. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  16. We're almost out of ________________.
  17. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  18. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  19. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  22. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  23. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  24. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. prune — to trim
  3. branch — of a tree
  4. firm — steady
  5. squash — the sport
  6. squash — the vegetable
  7. firm — decided
  8. pop — music
  9. pop — to visit
  10. degree — an amount
  11. jam — a tight spot
  12. squash — to crush
  13. swing — to play on
  14. jam — to spread on bread
  15. degree — from a university
  16. pop — soda
  17. branch — a division
  18. branch — of a bank
  19. swing — in golf
  20. degree — temperature
  21. firm — a company
  22. prune — the fruit
  23. jam — in traffic
  24. swing — music

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