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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: prune · branch · field · deal · squash · clip · mark · band

  1. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  2. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  6. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  7. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  8. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  9. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  10. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  11. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  12. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  15. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  16. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  17. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  18. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  19. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  20. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  21. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  24. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.

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

Answer key

  1. mark — to pay attention
  2. squash — the sport
  3. clip — for paper
  4. clip — a video
  5. prune — the fruit
  6. band — a music group
  7. prune — to trim
  8. field — farmland
  9. branch — of a tree
  10. mark — a trace
  11. field — a subject
  12. deal — an agreement
  13. field — for sport
  14. band — a ring
  15. prune — to trim
  16. squash — to crush
  17. band — a rubber band
  18. squash — the vegetable
  19. deal — a big deal
  20. branch — of a bank
  21. branch — a division
  22. clip — to cut
  23. mark — a grade
  24. deal — to handle

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