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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 120 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: branch · prune · row · kid · face · dip · vault · spell

  1. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  3. How do you ________________ your surname?
  4. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  5. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  6. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  7. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  8. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  9. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  10. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  11. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  12. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  13. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  14. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  15. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  16. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  17. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  18. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  19. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  20. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  21. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  22. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  23. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  24. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. face — part of the head
  3. spell — letters
  4. vault — a safe
  5. spell — magic
  6. prune — the fruit
  7. branch — a division
  8. branch — of a bank
  9. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  10. branch — of a tree
  11. row — a quarrel
  12. vault — an arched ceiling
  13. dip — a sauce
  14. face — to confront
  15. prune — to trim
  16. kid — to tease
  17. row — a line
  18. row — to paddle
  19. face — to point toward
  20. dip — to sink
  21. dip — to dunk
  22. vault — in gymnastics
  23. prune — to trim
  24. spell — a short time

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