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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: court · pitch · root · prune · mouse · cold · bear · branch

  1. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  3. The ball is in your ________________.
  4. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  5. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  6. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  7. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  10. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  11. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  12. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  13. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  14. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  15. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  16. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  17. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  18. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  19. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  20. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  23. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  24. The players ran onto the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. prune — the fruit
  3. court — for sport
  4. mouse — the animal
  5. mouse — the animal
  6. prune — to trim
  7. mouse — for a computer
  8. cold — not warm
  9. bear — the animal
  10. root — of a plant
  11. root — the cause
  12. bear — to put up with
  13. branch — a division
  14. branch — of a tree
  15. pitch — a sales talk
  16. root — of a word
  17. pitch — completely
  18. bear — the animal
  19. prune — to trim
  20. court — of law
  21. cold — an illness
  22. court — of a king
  23. branch — of a bank
  24. pitch — a sports field

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