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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. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  2. Have you met the new head ________________?
  3. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  4. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  5. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  6. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  7. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  8. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  9. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  10. We're on a ________________ here.
  11. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  12. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  13. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  14. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  15. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  16. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  17. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  18. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  19. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  20. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  21. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  22. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  23. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  24. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.

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

Answer key

  1. coach — a trainer
  2. coach — a trainer
  3. prune — the fruit
  4. mine — for digging
  5. race — a contest
  6. race — humankind
  7. content — the amount
  8. mine — an explosive
  9. hand — part of the body
  10. roll — on a roll
  11. prune — to trim
  12. stick — to attach or keep to
  13. roll — a cake
  14. content — happy
  15. prune — to trim
  16. content — videos and posts
  17. hand — help
  18. hand — in cards
  19. race — the arms race
  20. stick — a piece of wood
  21. stick — a piece of wood
  22. coach — pulled by horses
  23. roll — a list
  24. mine — belonging to me

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