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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 116 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. Have you met the new head ________________?
  2. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  3. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  4. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  7. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  8. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  12. Don't do anything ________________.
  13. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  14. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  15. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  16. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  17. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  18. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  19. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  20. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  21. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  22. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  23. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  24. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.

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

Answer key

  1. coach — a trainer
  2. prune — to trim
  3. trunk — of a tree
  4. degree — an amount
  5. clip — to cut
  6. prune — the fruit
  7. rash — on the skin
  8. wake — before a funeral
  9. clip — a video
  10. clip — for paper
  11. coach — pulled by horses
  12. rash — hasty
  13. wake — a trail
  14. degree — temperature
  15. pitch — a sales talk
  16. pitch — completely
  17. prune — to trim
  18. rash — a series
  19. trunk — of an elephant
  20. wake — to stop sleeping
  21. degree — from a university
  22. trunk — of a car
  23. pitch — a sports field
  24. coach — a trainer

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