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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: bound · mine · net · field · branch · prune · squash · fall

  1. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  2. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  3. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  4. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  5. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  6. That was ________________ to happen.
  7. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  8. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  9. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  10. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  11. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  12. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  13. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  14. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  15. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  16. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  19. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  20. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  21. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  22. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  23. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  24. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. net — in sport
  3. branch — of a bank
  4. net — after costs
  5. fall — the season
  6. bound — certain
  7. mine — belonging to me
  8. mine — an explosive
  9. squash — the vegetable
  10. net — for catching
  11. branch — of a tree
  12. field — farmland
  13. prune — the fruit
  14. bound — obliged
  15. prune — to trim
  16. branch — a division
  17. field — a subject
  18. prune — to trim
  19. bound — tied together
  20. squash — the sport
  21. squash — to crush
  22. mine — for digging
  23. fall — to drop
  24. field — for sport

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