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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 120 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: branch · race · land · prune · mine · fall · kid · present

  1. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  2. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  3. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  4. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  5. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  6. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  7. When are we going to ________________?
  8. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  9. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  10. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  11. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  12. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  13. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  14. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  15. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  16. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  17. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  18. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  19. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  20. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  21. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  22. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  23. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  24. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — an explosive
  2. race — humankind
  3. prune — to trim
  4. present — there
  5. land — ground
  6. kid — to tease
  7. land — to come down
  8. fall — to drop
  9. race — a contest
  10. prune — to trim
  11. mine — for digging
  12. mine — belonging to me
  13. branch — a division
  14. kid — child
  15. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  16. present — a gift
  17. fall — to drop
  18. branch — of a tree
  19. race — the arms race
  20. present — the time now
  21. prune — the fruit
  22. land — a country
  23. fall — the season
  24. branch — of a bank

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