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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: hand · prune · branch · court · ball · chip · cabinet · snap

  1. What do you think of the new ________________?
  2. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  3. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  4. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  5. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  6. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  7. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  8. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  9. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  10. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  11. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  12. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  13. The ball is in your ________________.
  14. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  15. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  16. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  17. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  18. The King held a masked ________________.
  19. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  20. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  21. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  22. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  23. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  24. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.

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

Answer key

  1. cabinet — ministers
  2. snap — to click
  3. prune — to trim
  4. branch — of a bank
  5. hand — help
  6. snap — to snap out of it
  7. ball — a great time
  8. prune — to trim
  9. chip — for betting
  10. chip — in a computer
  11. ball — a round shape
  12. hand — part of the body
  13. court — for sport
  14. court — of a king
  15. cabinet — ministers
  16. branch — of a tree
  17. branch — a division
  18. ball — a dance
  19. snap — to speak sharply
  20. prune — the fruit
  21. hand — in cards
  22. chip — to eat
  23. cabinet — a cupboard
  24. court — of law

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