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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: branch · prune · clip · board · hand · vault · rush · rash

  1. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  2. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  5. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  6. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  7. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  10. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  11. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  12. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  13. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  14. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  15. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  16. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  17. Don't do anything ________________.
  18. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  19. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  20. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  21. That must've been a ________________.
  22. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.

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

Answer key

  1. vault — a safe
  2. prune — to trim
  3. clip — for paper
  4. rush — to hurry
  5. board — to get on
  6. vault — in gymnastics
  7. rush — hurry
  8. clip — a video
  9. branch — of a tree
  10. branch — a division
  11. rash — a series
  12. hand — in cards
  13. board — a flat piece
  14. prune — to trim
  15. vault — an arched ceiling
  16. prune — the fruit
  17. rash — hasty
  18. rash — on the skin
  19. hand — part of the body
  20. board — a committee
  21. rush — a thrill
  22. hand — help
  23. clip — to cut
  24. branch — of a bank

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