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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: mark · branch · snap · bark · cold · spell · prune · spring

  1. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  2. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  3. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  4. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  5. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  6. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  7. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  8. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  9. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  10. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  11. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  14. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  15. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  18. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  21. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  22. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  23. How do you ________________ your surname?
  24. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. mark — a grade
  3. snap — to speak sharply
  4. snap — to click
  5. spring — of water
  6. mark — a trace
  7. branch — of a tree
  8. spell — magic
  9. bark — to shout
  10. branch — of a bank
  11. prune — the fruit
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. spring — a coil
  14. spell — a short time
  15. bark — a dog's sound
  16. cold — an illness
  17. branch — a division
  18. bark — of a tree
  19. cold — not warm
  20. prune — to trim
  21. spring — the season
  22. snap — to snap out of it
  23. spell — letters
  24. mark — to pay attention

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