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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: tube · scale · sharp · prune · squash · field · branch · chair

  1. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  2. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  3. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  4. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  5. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  6. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  7. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  8. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  9. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  10. I'll be taking the ________________.
  11. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  12. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  13. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  14. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  15. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  16. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  17. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  18. It's one o'clock ________________.
  19. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  20. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  21. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  22. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  23. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  24. This knife is not ________________ enough.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the vegetable
  2. chair — a leader
  3. chair — a professorship
  4. branch — a division
  5. scale — size or range
  6. tube — in a tire
  7. scale — in music
  8. field — farmland
  9. field — for sport
  10. tube — the underground
  11. squash — to crush
  12. chair — to sit on
  13. scale — for weighing
  14. sharp — clever
  15. field — a subject
  16. branch — of a bank
  17. branch — of a tree
  18. sharp — exactly
  19. prune — to trim
  20. prune — to trim
  21. squash — the sport
  22. tube — a container
  23. prune — the fruit
  24. sharp — with an edge

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