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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 · racket · hide · bowl · branch · bat · rush · game

  1. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  2. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  3. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  4. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  5. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  6. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  7. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  8. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  9. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  10. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  11. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  12. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  13. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  16. That was a fun ________________.
  17. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  18. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  19. That must've been a ________________.
  20. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  21. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  22. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  23. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a dish
  2. branch — a division
  3. prune — to trim
  4. hide — to keep secret
  5. hide — animal skin
  6. branch — of a bank
  7. racket — for tennis
  8. prune — the fruit
  9. racket — for tennis
  10. branch — of a tree
  11. hide — to keep secret
  12. racket — a loud noise
  13. game — wild animals
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. bowl — to roll
  16. game — a match
  17. bat — the animal
  18. rush — hurry
  19. rush — a thrill
  20. game — a kind of play
  21. bowl — a football final
  22. prune — to trim
  23. rush — to hurry
  24. bat — for baseball

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