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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: file · bulb · rock · spell · land · bass · branch · prune

  1. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  2. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  3. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  4. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  5. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  6. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  7. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  8. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  9. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  10. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  11. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  12. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  13. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  14. I've got to change the light ________________.
  15. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  16. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  17. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  18. The light ________________ burned out.
  19. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  20. How do you ________________ your surname?
  21. When are we going to ________________?
  22. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  23. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  24. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. land — ground
  3. spell — magic
  4. rock — music
  5. file — a line of people
  6. rock — to move gently
  7. bass — low music
  8. branch — a division
  9. bass — the fish
  10. land — a country
  11. bulb — of a plant
  12. branch — of a bank
  13. spell — a short time
  14. bulb — for light
  15. bass — the instrument
  16. branch — of a tree
  17. prune — the fruit
  18. bulb — for light
  19. prune — to trim
  20. spell — letters
  21. land — to come down
  22. file — a document
  23. rock — a stone
  24. file — a tool

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