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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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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 · snap · race · court · prune · branch · toast · cap

  1. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  2. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  3. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  4. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  5. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  6. The ball is in your ________________.
  7. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  8. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  9. We're almost out of ________________.
  10. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  11. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  12. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  13. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  14. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  15. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  16. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  17. You don't need to ________________ round.
  18. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  19. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  20. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  21. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  22. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  23. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  24. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. toast — a drink to someone
  3. toast — the most admired
  4. snap — to snap out of it
  5. race — a contest
  6. court — for sport
  7. branch — of a tree
  8. prune — the fruit
  9. pop — soda
  10. cap — a hat
  11. pop — music
  12. branch — a division
  13. cap — a lid
  14. court — of law
  15. branch — of a bank
  16. snap — to click
  17. pop — to visit
  18. prune — to trim
  19. court — of a king
  20. race — the arms race
  21. race — humankind
  22. toast — bread
  23. cap — of ice
  24. snap — to speak sharply

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