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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. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  2. You don't need to ________________ round.
  3. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  4. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  5. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  6. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. Have you met the new head ________________?
  9. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  10. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  13. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  14. We're almost out of ________________.
  15. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  16. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  19. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  20. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  21. Did you ________________ the meat?
  22. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  23. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  24. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.

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

Answer key

  1. season — of the year
  2. pop — to visit
  3. pound — a weight
  4. pound — for dogs
  5. coach — a trainer
  6. prune — to trim
  7. cold — not warm
  8. coach — a trainer
  9. coach — pulled by horses
  10. bank — of a river
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. prune — the fruit
  13. bank — for money
  14. pop — soda
  15. pop — music
  16. bank — for money
  17. cold — an illness
  18. bat — for baseball
  19. prune — to trim
  20. bat — in an idiom
  21. season — to add flavour
  22. bat — the animal
  23. season — in sport
  24. pound — to hit hard

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