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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: branch · toast · cell · prune · straw · pitch · wake · chair

  1. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  2. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  3. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  4. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  5. He was locked up in a ________________.
  6. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  7. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  8. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  9. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  10. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  11. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  12. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  13. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  14. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  15. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  16. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  17. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  18. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  19. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  20. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  21. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  22. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  23. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  24. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. toast — the most admired
  2. prune — to trim
  3. chair — to sit on
  4. prune — to trim
  5. cell — in a prison
  6. wake — before a funeral
  7. cell — in biology
  8. toast — a drink to someone
  9. prune — the fruit
  10. straw — a straw man
  11. branch — a division
  12. wake — to stop sleeping
  13. toast — bread
  14. branch — of a tree
  15. pitch — a sales talk
  16. pitch — completely
  17. branch — of a bank
  18. chair — a professorship
  19. pitch — a sports field
  20. cell — a phone
  21. straw — dry grass
  22. chair — a leader
  23. wake — a trail
  24. straw — to clutch at straws

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