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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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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: spring · chest · prune · coach · tear · root · pound · stick

  1. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  2. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  3. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  4. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  5. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  6. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  7. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  8. Have you met the new head ________________?
  9. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  10. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  11. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  12. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  13. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  14. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  15. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  16. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  17. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  18. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  19. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  20. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  21. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  22. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  23. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  24. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.

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

Answer key

  1. pound — to hit hard
  2. spring — the season
  3. coach — pulled by horses
  4. tear — from crying
  5. root — of a plant
  6. stick — a piece of wood
  7. prune — the fruit
  8. coach — a trainer
  9. tear — from crying
  10. stick — a piece of wood
  11. pound — for dogs
  12. chest — of your body
  13. chest — a box
  14. prune — to trim
  15. root — the cause
  16. coach — a trainer
  17. spring — a coil
  18. stick — to attach or keep to
  19. chest — of your body
  20. root — of a word
  21. spring — of water
  22. prune — to trim
  23. tear — to rip
  24. pound — a weight

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