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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 116 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: march · court · scale · prune · game · tear · branch · object

  1. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  2. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  3. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  4. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  5. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  6. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  7. The ball is in your ________________.
  8. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  9. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  10. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  11. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  12. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  13. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  14. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  15. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  16. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  17. That was a fun ________________.
  18. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  19. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  20. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  21. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  22. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  23. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  24. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.

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

Answer key

  1. object — a thing
  2. object — to protest
  3. branch — a division
  4. march — the month
  5. tear — to rip
  6. object — an aim
  7. court — for sport
  8. march — the month
  9. tear — from crying
  10. prune — to trim
  11. court — of a king
  12. scale — size or range
  13. branch — of a bank
  14. court — of law
  15. game — a kind of play
  16. prune — to trim
  17. game — a match
  18. branch — of a tree
  19. scale — in music
  20. prune — the fruit
  21. march — music
  22. scale — for weighing
  23. game — wild animals
  24. tear — from crying

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