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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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 · mate · bass · capital · perch · drill · field · prune

  1. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  2. Have you found your soul ________________?
  3. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  4. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  5. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  6. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  7. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  8. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  9. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  10. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  11. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  12. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  13. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  14. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  15. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  16. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  17. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  18. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  19. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  20. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  21. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  22. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  23. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  24. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. mate — a partner
  3. branch — of a bank
  4. bass — the fish
  5. drill — a practice
  6. mate — to breed
  7. capital — a city
  8. perch — for a bird
  9. perch — for a bird
  10. bass — low music
  11. bass — the instrument
  12. perch — the fish
  13. branch — a division
  14. field — farmland
  15. branch — of a tree
  16. capital — a big letter
  17. drill — army training
  18. field — a subject
  19. mate — a friend
  20. drill — the tool
  21. field — for sport
  22. prune — to trim
  23. prune — the fruit
  24. capital — money

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