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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: bowl · swing · spring · sharp · pound · prune · coach · cell

  1. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  2. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  3. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  4. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  5. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  6. He was locked up in a ________________.
  7. David sat on the ________________.
  8. It's one o'clock ________________.
  9. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  10. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  11. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  12. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  13. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  14. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  15. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  16. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  17. Have you met the new head ________________?
  18. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  19. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  20. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  21. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  22. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  23. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  24. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.

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

Answer key

  1. pound — a weight
  2. prune — the fruit
  3. pound — for dogs
  4. spring — the season
  5. pound — to hit hard
  6. cell — in a prison
  7. swing — to play on
  8. sharp — exactly
  9. prune — to trim
  10. bowl — a football final
  11. spring — of water
  12. coach — a trainer
  13. bowl — to roll
  14. sharp — with an edge
  15. spring — a coil
  16. cell — a phone
  17. coach — a trainer
  18. sharp — clever
  19. coach — pulled by horses
  20. cell — in biology
  21. bowl — a dish
  22. prune — to trim
  23. swing — in golf
  24. swing — music

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