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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: mouse · content · chest · stem · branch · kick · sharp · prune

  1. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  2. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  3. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  4. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  5. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  6. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  7. It's one o'clock ________________.
  8. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  9. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  10. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  11. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  12. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  13. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  14. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  15. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  16. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  17. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  18. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  19. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  20. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  21. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  22. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  23. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  24. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. branch — of a bank
  3. kick — a thrill
  4. prune — to trim
  5. sharp — with an edge
  6. mouse — the animal
  7. sharp — exactly
  8. stem — to come from
  9. chest — of your body
  10. content — the amount
  11. stem — of a plant
  12. kick — with a leg
  13. content — happy
  14. chest — a box
  15. mouse — the animal
  16. content — videos and posts
  17. branch — a division
  18. prune — the fruit
  19. sharp — clever
  20. chest — of your body
  21. kick — in football
  22. mouse — for a computer
  23. stem — a stem cell
  24. branch — of a tree

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