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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 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. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  3. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  4. Have you met the new head ________________?
  5. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  6. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  7. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  8. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  11. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  14. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  17. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  18. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  19. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  20. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  21. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  22. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  23. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  24. Don't do anything ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. coach — pulled by horses
  2. prune — to trim
  3. prune — to trim
  4. coach — a trainer
  5. prune — the fruit
  6. rash — a series
  7. bass — low music
  8. net — after costs
  9. clip — for paper
  10. mouse — the animal
  11. straw — dry grass
  12. clip — a video
  13. mouse — for a computer
  14. coach — a trainer
  15. clip — to cut
  16. mouse — the animal
  17. net — in sport
  18. bass — the instrument
  19. straw — a straw man
  20. net — for catching
  21. bass — the fish
  22. rash — on the skin
  23. straw — to clutch at straws
  24. rash — hasty

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