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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: pop · tear · lash · prune · trunk · branch · clip · field

  1. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  4. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  5. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  6. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  7. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  8. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  9. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  10. You don't need to ________________ round.
  11. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  12. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  16. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  17. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  18. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  19. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  20. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  21. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  22. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  23. We're almost out of ________________.
  24. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. branch — of a tree
  2. clip — for paper
  3. pop — music
  4. tear — to rip
  5. trunk — of an elephant
  6. prune — to trim
  7. tear — from crying
  8. prune — the fruit
  9. tear — from crying
  10. pop — to visit
  11. prune — to trim
  12. trunk — of a tree
  13. clip — to cut
  14. clip — a video
  15. branch — of a bank
  16. trunk — of a car
  17. field — farmland
  18. lash — to lash out
  19. field — for sport
  20. lash — an eyelash
  21. field — a subject
  22. branch — a division
  23. pop — soda
  24. lash — a whip stroke

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