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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: prune · wind · degree · trunk · rash · coach · clip · bank

  1. Don't do anything ________________.
  2. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  5. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  6. Have you met the new head ________________?
  7. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  10. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  13. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  14. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  15. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  16. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  17. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  18. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  19. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  20. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  21. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  22. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  24. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — hasty
  2. prune — to trim
  3. clip — a video
  4. bank — for money
  5. coach — a trainer
  6. coach — a trainer
  7. trunk — of a car
  8. clip — to cut
  9. wind — moving air
  10. rash — on the skin
  11. degree — temperature
  12. degree — from a university
  13. degree — an amount
  14. wind — to turn a key
  15. prune — to trim
  16. prune — the fruit
  17. bank — for money
  18. coach — pulled by horses
  19. trunk — of a tree
  20. rash — a series
  21. trunk — of an elephant
  22. bank — of a river
  23. clip — for paper
  24. wind — moving air

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