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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: bat · firm · cold · content · prune · rush · branch · field

  1. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  2. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  5. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  6. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  7. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  8. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  9. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  10. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  11. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  12. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  13. That must've been a ________________.
  14. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  15. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  16. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  17. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  18. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  19. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  24. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. branch — of a bank
  2. bat — the animal
  3. cold — not warm
  4. content — the amount
  5. rush — to hurry
  6. prune — to trim
  7. firm — a company
  8. content — happy
  9. bat — for baseball
  10. firm — decided
  11. field — a subject
  12. prune — to trim
  13. rush — a thrill
  14. prune — the fruit
  15. field — farmland
  16. field — for sport
  17. firm — steady
  18. branch — of a tree
  19. branch — a division
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. content — videos and posts
  22. cold — an illness
  23. rush — hurry
  24. bat — in an idiom

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