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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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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  2. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  4. We're almost out of ________________.
  5. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  6. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  7. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  8. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  9. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  10. Have you met the new head ________________?
  11. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  12. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  13. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  14. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  15. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  16. You don't need to ________________ round.
  17. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  18. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  19. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  20. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  21. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  22. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  23. My father caught me by the ________________.
  24. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.

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

Answer key

  1. coach — pulled by horses
  2. hand — help
  3. wake — to stop sleeping
  4. pop — soda
  5. branch — of a tree
  6. pop — music
  7. hand — in cards
  8. toast — a drink to someone
  9. toast — bread
  10. coach — a trainer
  11. arm — part of the body
  12. branch — a division
  13. spring — the season
  14. branch — of a bank
  15. spring — of water
  16. pop — to visit
  17. coach — a trainer
  18. spring — a coil
  19. hand — part of the body
  20. toast — the most admired
  21. wake — before a funeral
  22. wake — a trail
  23. arm — part of the body
  24. arm — a part of something

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