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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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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: roll · pit · race · chair · branch · prune · last · shower

  1. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  2. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  3. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  4. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  5. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  6. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  7. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  8. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  9. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  10. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  11. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  12. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  13. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  14. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  15. We're on a ________________ here.
  16. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  17. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  18. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  19. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  20. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  21. False peace will not ________________.
  22. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  23. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  24. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. branch — a division
  2. chair — a leader
  3. roll — a cake
  4. chair — to sit on
  5. race — humankind
  6. shower — a meteor shower
  7. last — final
  8. shower — rain
  9. branch — of a bank
  10. prune — to trim
  11. prune — the fruit
  12. race — a contest
  13. branch — of a tree
  14. pit — a hole
  15. roll — on a roll
  16. shower — to wash
  17. roll — a list
  18. chair — a professorship
  19. prune — to trim
  20. pit — a fruit stone
  21. last — to go on
  22. pit — in a race
  23. last — finally
  24. race — the arms race

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