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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 116 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: hide · cabinet · tear · prune · bat · branch · trunk · rule

  1. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  2. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  3. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  4. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  5. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  6. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  7. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  8. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  9. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  10. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  11. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  12. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  15. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  16. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  17. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  18. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  19. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  20. What do you think of the new ________________?
  21. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  22. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  23. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  24. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. hide — to keep secret
  3. branch — a division
  4. bat — for baseball
  5. bat — in an idiom
  6. tear — to rip
  7. prune — to trim
  8. trunk — of an elephant
  9. trunk — of a car
  10. rule — a law
  11. hide — animal skin
  12. hide — to keep secret
  13. bat — the animal
  14. cabinet — a cupboard
  15. prune — the fruit
  16. trunk — of a tree
  17. branch — of a tree
  18. tear — from crying
  19. tear — from crying
  20. cabinet — ministers
  21. branch — of a bank
  22. cabinet — ministers
  23. rule — to rule out
  24. rule — government

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