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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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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: hand · squash · prune · content · branch · pit · toast · roll

  1. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  3. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  4. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  5. We're on a ________________ here.
  6. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  7. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  8. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  9. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  10. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  11. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  12. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  13. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  14. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  15. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  16. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  17. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  18. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  19. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  20. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  21. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  22. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  23. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  24. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. prune — to trim
  3. branch — a division
  4. prune — the fruit
  5. roll — on a roll
  6. prune — to trim
  7. content — the amount
  8. hand — in cards
  9. hand — part of the body
  10. hand — help
  11. squash — the sport
  12. toast — a drink to someone
  13. toast — bread
  14. roll — a list
  15. roll — a cake
  16. toast — the most admired
  17. squash — the vegetable
  18. content — videos and posts
  19. pit — a hole
  20. squash — to crush
  21. pit — in a race
  22. branch — of a bank
  23. branch — of a tree
  24. pit — a fruit stone

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