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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 116 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: scale · pop · bark · branch · pitch · hand · bound · prune

  1. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  2. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  3. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  4. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  5. We're almost out of ________________.
  6. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  7. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  8. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  9. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  10. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  11. That was ________________ to happen.
  12. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  13. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  14. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  15. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  16. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  17. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  18. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  19. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  20. You don't need to ________________ round.
  21. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  22. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  23. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  24. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.

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. bark — a dog's sound
  4. scale — in music
  5. pop — soda
  6. bark — to shout
  7. hand — part of the body
  8. pitch — a sales talk
  9. hand — in cards
  10. hand — help
  11. bound — certain
  12. bound — tied together
  13. pitch — a sports field
  14. bound — obliged
  15. bark — of a tree
  16. branch — a division
  17. scale — size or range
  18. pitch — completely
  19. prune — the fruit
  20. pop — to visit
  21. pop — music
  22. branch — of a bank
  23. branch — of a tree
  24. scale — for weighing

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