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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 120 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: hand · mate · race · prune · field · bear · coach · ground

  1. Have you found your soul ________________?
  2. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  3. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  4. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  5. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  6. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  7. Have you met the new head ________________?
  8. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  9. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  10. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  11. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  12. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  13. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  14. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  15. There's no middle ________________.
  16. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  17. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  18. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  19. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  20. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  21. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  22. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  23. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  24. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a partner
  2. coach — a trainer
  3. coach — pulled by horses
  4. prune — to trim
  5. mate — a friend
  6. hand — in cards
  7. coach — a trainer
  8. ground — crushed
  9. mate — to breed
  10. bear — to put up with
  11. field — for sport
  12. hand — help
  13. bear — the animal
  14. race — humankind
  15. ground — a position
  16. ground — the earth
  17. bear — the animal
  18. race — a contest
  19. field — farmland
  20. race — the arms race
  21. hand — part of the body
  22. prune — to trim
  23. prune — the fruit
  24. field — a subject

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