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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: branch · scale · dip · pass · prune · spring · cold · mine

  1. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  2. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  3. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  4. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  5. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  6. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  7. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  12. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  13. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  14. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  15. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  16. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  17. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  18. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  19. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  20. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  21. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  22. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  23. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. branch — of a tree
  2. dip — a sauce
  3. mine — belonging to me
  4. spring — a coil
  5. prune — to trim
  6. mine — for digging
  7. spring — the season
  8. cold — an illness
  9. branch — a division
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. scale — for weighing
  12. spring — of water
  13. pass — to succeed
  14. scale — size or range
  15. prune — to trim
  16. pass — to spend time
  17. prune — the fruit
  18. branch — of a bank
  19. mine — an explosive
  20. pass — a permit
  21. scale — in music
  22. dip — to dunk
  23. dip — to sink
  24. cold — not warm

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