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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: prune · degree · hand · shower · face · jam · leaves · branch

  1. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  2. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  3. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  4. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  7. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  8. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  9. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  10. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  11. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  12. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  13. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  14. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  15. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  16. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  17. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  20. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  21. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  22. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  23. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  24. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — in cards
  2. branch — of a tree
  3. jam — a tight spot
  4. leaves — of a tree
  5. degree — an amount
  6. branch — a division
  7. face — to confront
  8. hand — help
  9. jam — to spread on bread
  10. jam — in traffic
  11. degree — from a university
  12. prune — to trim
  13. shower — to wash
  14. branch — of a bank
  15. hand — part of the body
  16. shower — rain
  17. shower — a meteor shower
  18. degree — temperature
  19. leaves — to go away
  20. face — to point toward
  21. prune — to trim
  22. face — part of the head
  23. prune — the fruit
  24. leaves — lets stay

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