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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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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: straw · race · season · prune · pound · branch · face · kick

  1. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  2. Did you ________________ the meat?
  3. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  4. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  5. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  6. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  7. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  8. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  9. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  10. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  11. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  12. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  13. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  14. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  15. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  16. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  17. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  18. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  19. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  20. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  21. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  22. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  23. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  24. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. season — to add flavour
  3. season — of the year
  4. prune — to trim
  5. branch — of a tree
  6. straw — to clutch at straws
  7. straw — dry grass
  8. prune — the fruit
  9. face — to confront
  10. kick — in football
  11. pound — for dogs
  12. kick — with a leg
  13. straw — a straw man
  14. race — humankind
  15. face — part of the head
  16. race — the arms race
  17. branch — of a bank
  18. branch — a division
  19. pound — a weight
  20. pound — to hit hard
  21. face — to point toward
  22. kick — a thrill
  23. season — in sport
  24. race — a contest

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