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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: prune · hand · press · bound · wake · branch · hide · cold

  1. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  2. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  3. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  4. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  7. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  8. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  11. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  12. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  13. That was ________________ to happen.
  14. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  17. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  18. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  19. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  20. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  21. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  22. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  23. Did you ________________ the button?
  24. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — the fruit
  2. wake — before a funeral
  3. branch — of a bank
  4. press — newspapers
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. hand — help
  7. press — a publisher
  8. bound — obliged
  9. cold — not warm
  10. hand — part of the body
  11. branch — of a tree
  12. wake — a trail
  13. bound — certain
  14. wake — to stop sleeping
  15. cold — an illness
  16. prune — to trim
  17. hide — to keep secret
  18. prune — to trim
  19. branch — a division
  20. hide — to keep secret
  21. bound — tied together
  22. hand — in cards
  23. press — to push
  24. hide — animal skin

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