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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: coach · squash · cap · hand · field · pound · race · prune

  1. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  2. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  5. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  6. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  7. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  8. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  9. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  10. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  11. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  12. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  13. Have you met the new head ________________?
  14. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  15. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  16. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  17. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  18. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  19. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  20. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  21. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  22. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  23. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  24. I got dealt a bad ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. coach — pulled by horses
  3. field — a subject
  4. race — humankind
  5. pound — a weight
  6. coach — a trainer
  7. race — the arms race
  8. hand — help
  9. hand — part of the body
  10. prune — the fruit
  11. prune — to trim
  12. pound — for dogs
  13. coach — a trainer
  14. squash — the vegetable
  15. field — farmland
  16. squash — the sport
  17. cap — a hat
  18. field — for sport
  19. squash — to crush
  20. cap — a lid
  21. pound — to hit hard
  22. race — a contest
  23. cap — of ice
  24. hand — in cards

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