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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: temple · prune · mine · pit · branch · march · cold · stand

  1. When was this ________________ built?
  2. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  3. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  4. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  5. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  6. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  7. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  8. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  9. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  10. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  11. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  12. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. I can't ________________ this cold.
  15. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  16. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  17. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  20. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  21. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  22. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.

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

Answer key

  1. temple — a place of worship
  2. mine — belonging to me
  3. pit — in a race
  4. march — the month
  5. march — music
  6. pit — a fruit stone
  7. temple — a place of worship
  8. march — the month
  9. pit — a hole
  10. mine — an explosive
  11. stand — for spectators
  12. branch — of a bank
  13. cold — an illness
  14. stand — to bear
  15. branch — of a tree
  16. mine — for digging
  17. stand — on your feet
  18. cold — not warm
  19. branch — a division
  20. prune — to trim
  21. prune — the fruit
  22. prune — to trim
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. temple — side of the head

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