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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 · date · tube · staff · cold · club · wind · coach

  1. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  2. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  3. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  4. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  5. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  6. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  7. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  8. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  9. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. Have you met the new head ________________?
  13. Have you settled on a ________________?
  14. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  15. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  16. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  19. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  20. I'll be taking the ________________.
  21. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  22. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  23. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  24. The old man leaned on his ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. coach — a trainer
  2. staff — employees
  3. date — on the calendar
  4. wind — moving air
  5. tube — in a tire
  6. club — for dancing
  7. wind — to turn a key
  8. club — a group
  9. wind — moving air
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. cold — an illness
  12. coach — a trainer
  13. date — on the calendar
  14. coach — pulled by horses
  15. prune — to trim
  16. date — the fruit
  17. cold — not warm
  18. club — for golf
  19. staff — employees
  20. tube — the underground
  21. prune — to trim
  22. prune — the fruit
  23. tube — a container
  24. staff — a stick

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