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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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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: cold · staff · track · hand · prune · plane · branch · key

  1. The water is too ________________.
  2. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  3. The ________________ took off on time.
  4. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  5. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  6. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  7. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  8. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  9. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  12. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  13. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  14. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  15. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  16. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  17. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  18. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  19. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  20. This piece is in a major ________________.
  21. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  22. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. A ________________ is just a dried plum.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. key — for a lock
  3. plane — an aircraft
  4. prune — to trim
  5. branch — of a bank
  6. hand — in cards
  7. branch — of a tree
  8. staff — a stick
  9. track — to keep track
  10. cold — an illness
  11. branch — a division
  12. plane — a tool
  13. staff — employees
  14. key — the most important part
  15. plane — in geometry
  16. prune — to trim
  17. hand — help
  18. track — a path
  19. staff — employees
  20. key — in music
  21. track — a song
  22. hand — part of the body
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. prune — the fruit

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