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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. Have you met the new head ________________?
  2. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  3. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  4. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  5. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  6. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  7. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  8. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  9. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  10. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  11. It's one o'clock ________________.
  12. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  13. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  14. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  15. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  16. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  17. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  18. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  19. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  20. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  21. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  22. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  23. He was locked up in a ________________.
  24. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. coach — a trainer
  2. prune — the fruit
  3. bat — for baseball
  4. cell — in biology
  5. coach — a trainer
  6. cell — a phone
  7. row — a line
  8. bat — the animal
  9. branch — a division
  10. prune — to trim
  11. sharp — exactly
  12. stick — a piece of wood
  13. prune — to trim
  14. coach — pulled by horses
  15. stick — to attach or keep to
  16. row — to paddle
  17. bat — in an idiom
  18. row — a quarrel
  19. branch — of a tree
  20. sharp — with an edge
  21. branch — of a bank
  22. sharp — clever
  23. cell — in a prison
  24. stick — a piece of wood

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