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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: stand · kid · file · branch · prune · mine · safe · degree

  1. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  2. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  3. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  4. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  5. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  6. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  7. I can't ________________ this cold.
  8. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  9. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  10. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  11. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  12. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  13. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  14. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  15. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  16. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  17. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  18. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  19. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  20. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  23. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  24. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. prune — to trim
  3. safe — a strongbox
  4. file — a tool
  5. prune — the fruit
  6. file — a document
  7. stand — to bear
  8. branch — a division
  9. degree — from a university
  10. file — a line of people
  11. mine — for digging
  12. safe — out of danger
  13. stand — for spectators
  14. mine — belonging to me
  15. degree — an amount
  16. branch — of a bank
  17. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  18. safe — out of danger
  19. mine — an explosive
  20. kid — to tease
  21. degree — temperature
  22. stand — on your feet
  23. branch — of a tree
  24. kid — child

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