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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: land · rash · clip · swing · perch · coach · shower · prune

  1. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  2. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  3. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. Have you met the new head ________________?
  6. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  7. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  8. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  9. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  10. David sat on the ________________.
  11. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  14. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  15. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  16. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  17. When are we going to ________________?
  18. Don't do anything ________________.
  19. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  20. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  23. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  24. I seem to be developing a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — rain
  2. prune — the fruit
  3. perch — the fish
  4. clip — for paper
  5. coach — a trainer
  6. prune — to trim
  7. swing — music
  8. coach — a trainer
  9. land — ground
  10. swing — to play on
  11. perch — for a bird
  12. clip — a video
  13. shower — to wash
  14. rash — a series
  15. prune — to trim
  16. land — a country
  17. land — to come down
  18. rash — hasty
  19. shower — a meteor shower
  20. swing — in golf
  21. clip — to cut
  22. coach — pulled by horses
  23. perch — for a bird
  24. rash — on the skin

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