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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: prune · bat · game · shower · branch · spell · rash · saw

  1. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  2. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  3. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  4. He works in a ________________ mill.
  5. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  6. That was a fun ________________.
  7. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  8. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  9. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  10. Don't do anything ________________.
  11. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  12. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  13. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  14. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  15. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  16. How do you ________________ your surname?
  17. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  18. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  19. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  20. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  21. She's very handy with a ________________.
  22. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  23. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  24. A ________________ is just a dried plum.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — rain
  2. prune — to trim
  3. branch — a division
  4. saw — the tool
  5. game — a kind of play
  6. game — a match
  7. bat — in an idiom
  8. shower — to wash
  9. rash — a series
  10. rash — hasty
  11. branch — of a bank
  12. bat — the animal
  13. prune — to trim
  14. spell — magic
  15. branch — of a tree
  16. spell — letters
  17. game — wild animals
  18. spell — a short time
  19. rash — on the skin
  20. bat — for baseball
  21. saw — the tool
  22. shower — a meteor shower
  23. saw — past of 'see'
  24. prune — the fruit

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