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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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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: prune · club · drill · lash · cell · trunk · hand · branch

  1. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  2. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  3. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  4. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  5. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  6. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  7. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  8. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  9. He was locked up in a ________________.
  10. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  11. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  12. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  13. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  14. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  15. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  16. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  17. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  18. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  19. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  20. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  21. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  22. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  23. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  24. A ________________ is just a dried plum.

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

Answer key

  1. branch — of a bank
  2. drill — army training
  3. club — for dancing
  4. drill — the tool
  5. lash — a whip stroke
  6. branch — a division
  7. hand — in cards
  8. hand — help
  9. cell — in a prison
  10. trunk — of an elephant
  11. club — a group
  12. lash — an eyelash
  13. cell — a phone
  14. lash — to lash out
  15. prune — to trim
  16. prune — to trim
  17. trunk — of a car
  18. cell — in biology
  19. drill — a practice
  20. trunk — of a tree
  21. branch — of a tree
  22. hand — part of the body
  23. club — for golf
  24. prune — the fruit

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