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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 120 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: sharp · pitcher · shower · rest · prune · branch · fall · court

  1. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  2. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  3. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  4. The ball is in your ________________.
  5. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  6. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  7. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  8. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  9. He is an ace ________________.
  10. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  11. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  12. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  13. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  14. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  15. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  16. It's one o'clock ________________.
  17. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  18. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  19. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  20. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  21. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  22. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  23. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  24. I would like to have a ________________ here.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of law
  2. fall — to drop
  3. branch — of a tree
  4. court — for sport
  5. fall — the season
  6. rest — what's left
  7. shower — to wash
  8. fall — to drop
  9. pitcher — in baseball
  10. sharp — with an edge
  11. shower — rain
  12. prune — to trim
  13. pitcher — a jug
  14. court — of a king
  15. prune — the fruit
  16. sharp — exactly
  17. sharp — clever
  18. rest — what's left
  19. branch — of a bank
  20. shower — a meteor shower
  21. branch — a division
  22. pitcher — a jug
  23. prune — to trim
  24. rest — a break

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