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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 116 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: bank · coach · spell · ball · prune · court · squash · mine

  1. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  2. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  3. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  4. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  5. The King held a masked ________________.
  6. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  7. How do you ________________ your surname?
  8. Have you met the new head ________________?
  9. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  10. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  11. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  12. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  13. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  14. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  15. The ball is in your ________________.
  16. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  17. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  18. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  19. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  20. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  21. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  22. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  23. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  24. The kitten curled into a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. squash — the sport
  3. coach — pulled by horses
  4. bank — for money
  5. ball — a dance
  6. mine — for digging
  7. spell — letters
  8. coach — a trainer
  9. squash — to crush
  10. prune — the fruit
  11. mine — an explosive
  12. squash — the vegetable
  13. court — of a king
  14. prune — to trim
  15. court — for sport
  16. bank — of a river
  17. court — of law
  18. mine — belonging to me
  19. spell — magic
  20. coach — a trainer
  21. spell — a short time
  22. bank — for money
  23. ball — a great time
  24. ball — a round shape

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