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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: wake · last · perch · bass · capital · prune · branch · ruler

  1. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  2. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  3. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  4. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  5. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  6. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  7. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  8. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  9. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  10. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  11. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  12. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  13. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  14. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  15. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  16. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  17. False peace will not ________________.
  18. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  19. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  20. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  21. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  22. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  23. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  24. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. last — final
  2. ruler — a monarch
  3. prune — the fruit
  4. bass — the fish
  5. branch — a division
  6. capital — money
  7. perch — for a bird
  8. perch — the fish
  9. bass — low music
  10. branch — of a tree
  11. wake — to stop sleeping
  12. branch — of a bank
  13. wake — before a funeral
  14. prune — to trim
  15. bass — the instrument
  16. capital — a big letter
  17. last — to go on
  18. prune — to trim
  19. wake — a trail
  20. last — finally
  21. capital — a city
  22. ruler — for measuring
  23. ruler — for measuring
  24. perch — for a bird

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