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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. Have you met the new head ________________?
  2. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  3. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  4. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  5. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  6. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  7. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  8. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  9. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  10. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. You don't need to ________________ round.
  13. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  14. We're almost out of ________________.
  15. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  16. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  17. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  20. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  23. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  24. I play ________________ in a jazz band.

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. pop — music
  4. bass — low music
  5. pound — for dogs
  6. bass — the fish
  7. hand — part of the body
  8. pound — a weight
  9. kick — with a leg
  10. kick — in football
  11. cold — not warm
  12. pop — to visit
  13. hand — help
  14. pop — soda
  15. kick — a thrill
  16. hand — in cards
  17. pound — to hit hard
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. coach — a trainer
  20. prune — to trim
  21. cold — an illness
  22. coach — pulled by horses
  23. prune — the fruit
  24. bass — the instrument

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