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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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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 · bowl · lean · prune · cell · perch · cold · bulb

  1. He was locked up in a ________________.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  4. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  5. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  6. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  7. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  8. I've got to change the light ________________.
  9. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  10. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  11. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  12. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  13. The light ________________ burned out.
  14. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  15. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  16. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  17. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  18. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  21. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  22. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  23. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — in a prison
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. prune — the fruit
  4. prune — to trim
  5. bowl — a dish
  6. perch — for a bird
  7. lean — to bend
  8. bulb — for light
  9. bulb — of a plant
  10. lean — to rest against
  11. branch — of a tree
  12. cell — a phone
  13. bulb — for light
  14. branch — of a bank
  15. prune — to trim
  16. branch — a division
  17. perch — for a bird
  18. bowl — to roll
  19. cold — an illness
  20. bowl — a football final
  21. perch — the fish
  22. lean — thin
  23. cell — in biology
  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