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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: lie · club · stem · prune · branch · clip · cold · bulb

  1. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  2. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  9. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  10. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  11. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  12. I've got to change the light ________________.
  13. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  14. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  17. The light ________________ burned out.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  21. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  22. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  23. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  24. Biology is a ________________ of science.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. lie — an untruth
  3. clip — a video
  4. prune — the fruit
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. branch — of a tree
  7. cold — an illness
  8. stem — to come from
  9. prune — to trim
  10. club — for dancing
  11. lie — to recline
  12. bulb — for light
  13. branch — of a bank
  14. lie — an untruth
  15. clip — to cut
  16. stem — of a plant
  17. bulb — for light
  18. clip — for paper
  19. cold — not warm
  20. bulb — of a plant
  21. stem — a stem cell
  22. club — for golf
  23. club — a group
  24. branch — a division

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