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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 from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: kid · prune · coach · last · field · arm

  1. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  4. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  5. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  6. Have you met the new head ________________?
  7. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  8. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  9. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  12. My father caught me by the ________________.
  13. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  14. False peace will not ________________.
  15. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  16. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  17. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  18. A ________________ is just a dried plum.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. field — a subject
  3. coach — a trainer
  4. arm — part of the body
  5. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  6. coach — a trainer
  7. prune — to trim
  8. kid — child
  9. coach — pulled by horses
  10. field — for sport
  11. last — finally
  12. arm — part of the body
  13. arm — a part of something
  14. last — to go on
  15. last — final
  16. kid — to tease
  17. field — farmland
  18. prune — the fruit

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