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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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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: branch · prune · hand · ground · wave · bowl · cold · root

  1. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  2. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  3. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  4. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  5. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  6. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  7. There's no middle ________________.
  8. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  9. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  10. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  11. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  12. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  13. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  18. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  19. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  20. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  21. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  22. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  23. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  24. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — the fruit
  2. branch — of a bank
  3. ground — crushed
  4. bowl — a football final
  5. branch — a division
  6. bowl — to roll
  7. ground — a position
  8. hand — help
  9. wave — a sudden rise
  10. root — the cause
  11. hand — in cards
  12. wave — of the sea
  13. wave — with your hand
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. cold — not warm
  16. cold — an illness
  17. root — of a plant
  18. prune — to trim
  19. ground — the earth
  20. root — of a word
  21. hand — part of the body
  22. bowl — a dish
  23. prune — to trim
  24. branch — of a tree

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