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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: prune · staff · saw · branch · club · cell · march · chest

  1. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  2. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  3. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  4. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  5. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  6. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  7. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  8. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  9. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  10. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  11. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  12. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  13. He works in a ________________ mill.
  14. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  15. He was locked up in a ________________.
  16. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  17. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  18. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  19. She's very handy with a ________________.
  20. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  21. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  22. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  23. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  24. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. branch — a division
  2. prune — to trim
  3. prune — to trim
  4. branch — of a bank
  5. chest — of your body
  6. staff — employees
  7. march — the month
  8. chest — of your body
  9. prune — the fruit
  10. cell — a phone
  11. staff — a stick
  12. club — for dancing
  13. saw — the tool
  14. march — music
  15. cell — in a prison
  16. club — a group
  17. cell — in biology
  18. saw — past of 'see'
  19. saw — the tool
  20. march — the month
  21. branch — of a tree
  22. chest — a box
  23. staff — employees
  24. club — for golf

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