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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: stick · branch · safe · wind · bat · cold · prune · stand

  1. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  2. I can't ________________ this cold.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  6. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  9. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  10. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  11. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  12. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  13. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  16. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  17. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  18. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  19. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  20. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  21. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  22. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  23. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  24. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.

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

Answer key

  1. stick — a piece of wood
  2. stand — to bear
  3. cold — not warm
  4. cold — an illness
  5. prune — to trim
  6. wind — moving air
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. branch — of a bank
  9. safe — a strongbox
  10. stick — a piece of wood
  11. bat — for baseball
  12. stick — to attach or keep to
  13. prune — the fruit
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. stand — for spectators
  16. branch — a division
  17. safe — out of danger
  18. branch — of a tree
  19. stand — on your feet
  20. wind — moving air
  21. bat — the animal
  22. wind — to turn a key
  23. safe — out of danger
  24. prune — to trim

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