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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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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: ground · ball · wake · band · prune · branch · staff · cell

  1. The King held a masked ________________.
  2. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  3. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  4. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  5. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  6. He was locked up in a ________________.
  7. There's no middle ________________.
  8. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  9. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  10. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  11. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  12. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  13. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  14. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  15. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  16. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  17. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  18. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  19. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  20. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  21. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  22. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  23. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  24. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a dance
  2. band — a music group
  3. ball — a round shape
  4. ground — crushed
  5. ball — a great time
  6. cell — in a prison
  7. ground — a position
  8. cell — in biology
  9. staff — employees
  10. branch — a division
  11. cell — a phone
  12. wake — to stop sleeping
  13. prune — to trim
  14. prune — the fruit
  15. prune — to trim
  16. wake — before a funeral
  17. ground — the earth
  18. wake — a trail
  19. branch — of a bank
  20. staff — employees
  21. band — a ring
  22. staff — a stick
  23. band — a rubber band
  24. branch — of a tree

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