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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: field · cue · clip · branch · prune · nail · rock · rest

  1. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  2. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. The ________________ went through the wall.
  5. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  6. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  7. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  8. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  9. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  10. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  11. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  12. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  13. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  14. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  15. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  16. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  17. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  18. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  21. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  22. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  23. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. rock — music
  2. prune — to trim
  3. clip — for paper
  4. nail — for a hammer
  5. branch — of a bank
  6. prune — the fruit
  7. branch — a division
  8. rock — a stone
  9. cue — a signal
  10. cue — a hint
  11. rest — what's left
  12. prune — to trim
  13. nail — on a finger
  14. rock — to move gently
  15. rest — a break
  16. branch — of a tree
  17. nail — for a hammer
  18. field — a subject
  19. clip — to cut
  20. rest — what's left
  21. field — for sport
  22. cue — for pool
  23. field — farmland
  24. clip — a video

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