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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 116 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: cell · cold · branch · prune · bark · sharp · mug · hand

  1. Where did you ________________ them?
  2. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  3. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  4. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  5. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  6. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  7. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  10. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  13. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  14. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  15. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  16. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  17. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. It's one o'clock ________________.
  20. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  21. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  22. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  23. He was locked up in a ________________.
  24. Biology is a ________________ of science.

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

Answer key

  1. mug — to rob
  2. branch — of a tree
  3. sharp — with an edge
  4. cell — in biology
  5. bark — of a tree
  6. branch — of a bank
  7. sharp — clever
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. mug — a face
  10. hand — part of the body
  11. cold — an illness
  12. hand — help
  13. cell — a phone
  14. prune — to trim
  15. prune — to trim
  16. bark — a dog's sound
  17. prune — the fruit
  18. cold — not warm
  19. sharp — exactly
  20. mug — a cup
  21. hand — in cards
  22. bark — to shout
  23. cell — in a prison
  24. branch — a division

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