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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.

Words on the sheet
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Word bank
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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: coach · band · root · chest · bass · cold · prune · content

  1. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  2. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  3. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  4. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  5. Have you met the new head ________________?
  6. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  7. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  8. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  9. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  10. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  11. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  12. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  13. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  18. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  19. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  20. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  21. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  22. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  23. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. coach — pulled by horses
  2. chest — of your body
  3. content — the amount
  4. content — happy
  5. coach — a trainer
  6. root — of a plant
  7. chest — a box
  8. bass — the instrument
  9. prune — to trim
  10. coach — a trainer
  11. bass — the fish
  12. band — a ring
  13. root — of a word
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. bass — low music
  16. cold — an illness
  17. band — a rubber band
  18. content — videos and posts
  19. prune — to trim
  20. root — the cause
  21. band — a music group
  22. chest — of your body
  23. prune — the fruit
  24. cold — not warm

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