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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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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 · swing · net · prune · sharp · ground · fine · arm

  1. There's no middle ________________.
  2. David sat on the ________________.
  3. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  4. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  5. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  6. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  7. Have you met the new head ________________?
  8. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  9. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  10. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  11. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  12. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  13. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  14. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  15. My father caught me by the ________________.
  16. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  17. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  18. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  19. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  20. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  21. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  22. It's one o'clock ________________.
  23. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  24. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — a position
  2. swing — to play on
  3. sharp — clever
  4. fine — all right
  5. coach — pulled by horses
  6. swing — in golf
  7. coach — a trainer
  8. net — in sport
  9. fine — a penalty
  10. ground — crushed
  11. ground — the earth
  12. sharp — with an edge
  13. fine — high quality
  14. prune — to trim
  15. arm — part of the body
  16. net — after costs
  17. prune — to trim
  18. arm — part of the body
  19. coach — a trainer
  20. net — for catching
  21. arm — a part of something
  22. sharp — exactly
  23. prune — the fruit
  24. swing — music

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