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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 · band · stem · ground · bore · rash · game · branch

  1. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  2. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  3. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  4. Don't do anything ________________.
  5. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  6. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  7. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  8. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  9. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  10. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  11. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  12. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  13. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  14. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  15. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  16. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  17. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  18. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  19. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  20. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  21. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  22. There's no middle ________________.
  23. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  24. That was a fun ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. branch — a division
  2. branch — of a tree
  3. prune — to trim
  4. rash — hasty
  5. game — a kind of play
  6. prune — to trim
  7. stem — of a plant
  8. bore — gave birth
  9. band — a ring
  10. game — wild animals
  11. ground — crushed
  12. prune — the fruit
  13. band — a music group
  14. rash — on the skin
  15. stem — a stem cell
  16. stem — to come from
  17. band — a rubber band
  18. branch — of a bank
  19. rash — a series
  20. ground — the earth
  21. bore — to tire
  22. ground — a position
  23. bore — to drill
  24. game — a match

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