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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 · capital · rash · prune · branch · leaves · stick · spring

  1. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  2. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  3. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  4. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  5. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  6. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  7. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  8. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  9. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  10. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  11. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  12. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  13. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  14. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  15. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  16. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  17. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  18. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  19. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  20. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  21. Don't do anything ________________.
  22. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  23. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  24. Do you need a ________________ with that?

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

Answer key

  1. leaves — to go away
  2. hand — part of the body
  3. rash — a series
  4. spring — the season
  5. prune — the fruit
  6. capital — a city
  7. branch — of a bank
  8. prune — to trim
  9. stick — a piece of wood
  10. branch — a division
  11. leaves — of a tree
  12. hand — in cards
  13. stick — a piece of wood
  14. capital — a big letter
  15. capital — money
  16. spring — a coil
  17. branch — of a tree
  18. rash — on the skin
  19. spring — of water
  20. stick — to attach or keep to
  21. rash — hasty
  22. prune — to trim
  23. leaves — lets stay
  24. hand — help

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