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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. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  3. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  4. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  5. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  6. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  7. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  8. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  9. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  10. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  11. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  12. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  13. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  14. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  15. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  16. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  17. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  18. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  19. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  20. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  21. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  22. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  23. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  24. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.

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

Answer key

  1. coach — a trainer
  2. coach — pulled by horses
  3. coach — a trainer
  4. lash — an eyelash
  5. lash — a whip stroke
  6. hand — part of the body
  7. shower — rain
  8. prune — to trim
  9. shower — a meteor shower
  10. leaves — to go away
  11. wind — moving air
  12. scale — in music
  13. wind — to turn a key
  14. shower — to wash
  15. scale — size or range
  16. wind — moving air
  17. scale — for weighing
  18. leaves — lets stay
  19. prune — the fruit
  20. hand — help
  21. leaves — of a tree
  22. hand — in cards
  23. lash — to lash out
  24. prune — to trim

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