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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 120 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: board · key · prune · lean · cold · band · branch · bat

  1. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  2. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  3. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  4. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  5. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  6. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  7. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  10. This piece is in a major ________________.
  11. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  12. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  19. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  20. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  21. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  22. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  23. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  24. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. board — a committee
  2. lean — thin
  3. prune — to trim
  4. prune — to trim
  5. key — the most important part
  6. prune — the fruit
  7. branch — of a tree
  8. cold — an illness
  9. board — a flat piece
  10. key — in music
  11. lean — to rest against
  12. band — a music group
  13. bat — the animal
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. bat — in an idiom
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. cold — not warm
  18. key — for a lock
  19. band — a rubber band
  20. board — to get on
  21. lean — to bend
  22. branch — of a bank
  23. branch — a division
  24. band — a ring

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