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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: toast · last · mate · branch · mark · prune · cold · rash

  1. Don't do anything ________________.
  2. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  3. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  6. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  7. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  8. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  9. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  12. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  13. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  14. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  15. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  16. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  17. Have you found your soul ________________?
  18. False peace will not ________________.
  19. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  20. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  21. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  24. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — hasty
  2. last — finally
  3. toast — a drink to someone
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. branch — of a bank
  6. mark — a trace
  7. branch — a division
  8. branch — of a tree
  9. toast — bread
  10. cold — an illness
  11. toast — the most admired
  12. rash — on the skin
  13. mate — a friend
  14. last — final
  15. mark — to pay attention
  16. mark — a grade
  17. mate — a partner
  18. last — to go on
  19. prune — the fruit
  20. rash — a series
  21. prune — to trim
  22. cold — not warm
  23. mate — to breed
  24. prune — to trim

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