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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: pit · bear · clip · object · cold · prune · lash · branch

  1. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  2. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  3. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  4. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  5. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  6. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  7. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  12. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  13. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  16. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  17. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  18. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  19. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. bear — the animal
  3. prune — the fruit
  4. lash — to lash out
  5. object — a thing
  6. object — an aim
  7. lash — a whip stroke
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. bear — the animal
  10. clip — a video
  11. prune — to trim
  12. pit — a fruit stone
  13. lash — an eyelash
  14. cold — not warm
  15. bear — to put up with
  16. branch — of a tree
  17. object — to protest
  18. branch — of a bank
  19. branch — a division
  20. clip — for paper
  21. pit — a hole
  22. clip — to cut
  23. pit — in a race
  24. cold — an illness

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