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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: sharp · degree · pitcher · prune · coach · spring · firm · cold

  1. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  3. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  4. Have you met the new head ________________?
  5. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  8. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  9. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  10. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  11. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. It's one o'clock ________________.
  14. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  15. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  16. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  19. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  20. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  21. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  24. He is an ace ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. coach — a trainer
  3. sharp — with an edge
  4. coach — a trainer
  5. spring — of water
  6. cold — an illness
  7. spring — a coil
  8. prune — to trim
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. prune — to trim
  11. firm — decided
  12. cold — not warm
  13. sharp — exactly
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. degree — an amount
  16. prune — the fruit
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. sharp — clever
  19. firm — steady
  20. coach — pulled by horses
  21. firm — a company
  22. degree — temperature
  23. spring — the season
  24. pitcher — in baseball

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