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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: wound · prune · fan · row · branch · degree · hand · wave

  1. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  2. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  3. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  4. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  5. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  6. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  7. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  8. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  9. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  10. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  11. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  12. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  13. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  14. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  15. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  16. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  19. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  20. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  21. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  22. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  23. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  24. A ________________ is just a dried plum.

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

Answer key

  1. wave — of the sea
  2. wound — past of 'wind'
  3. hand — part of the body
  4. branch — of a tree
  5. prune — to trim
  6. row — a quarrel
  7. fan — a supporter
  8. wound — an injury
  9. degree — from a university
  10. wave — with your hand
  11. hand — in cards
  12. fan — to cool the air
  13. hand — help
  14. row — a line
  15. prune — to trim
  16. row — to paddle
  17. degree — temperature
  18. wave — a sudden rise
  19. fan — a supporter
  20. branch — a division
  21. branch — of a bank
  22. wound — an injury
  23. degree — an amount
  24. prune — the fruit

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