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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: clip · scale · snap · branch · prune · spring · field · plane

  1. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  7. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  8. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  9. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  10. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  11. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  12. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  15. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  16. The ________________ took off on time.
  17. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  22. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  23. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  24. Biology is a ________________ of science.

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

Answer key

  1. plane — in geometry
  2. field — a subject
  3. field — farmland
  4. spring — the season
  5. clip — for paper
  6. snap — to snap out of it
  7. prune — the fruit
  8. snap — to speak sharply
  9. prune — to trim
  10. spring — of water
  11. prune — to trim
  12. scale — in music
  13. field — for sport
  14. snap — to click
  15. spring — a coil
  16. plane — an aircraft
  17. plane — a tool
  18. clip — to cut
  19. scale — for weighing
  20. clip — a video
  21. branch — of a tree
  22. branch — of a bank
  23. scale — size or range
  24. branch — a division

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