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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 116 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 · prune · ball · bark · march · spell · bat · rush

  1. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  2. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  3. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  4. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  5. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  6. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  7. That must've been a ________________.
  8. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  9. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  10. Have you met the new head ________________?
  11. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  12. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  16. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  17. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  18. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  19. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  20. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  21. How do you ________________ your surname?
  22. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  23. The King held a masked ________________.
  24. The kitten curled into a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. bat — for baseball
  3. ball — a great time
  4. prune — to trim
  5. coach — pulled by horses
  6. rush — to hurry
  7. rush — a thrill
  8. prune — the fruit
  9. spell — a short time
  10. coach — a trainer
  11. march — the month
  12. bark — a dog's sound
  13. bat — the animal
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. rush — hurry
  16. coach — a trainer
  17. spell — magic
  18. march — music
  19. bark — to shout
  20. prune — to trim
  21. spell — letters
  22. bark — of a tree
  23. ball — a dance
  24. ball — a round shape

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