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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 · bound · cell · hand · prune · rest · bat · sharp

  1. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  2. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  3. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  4. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  5. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  6. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  7. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  8. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  9. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  10. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  11. It's one o'clock ________________.
  12. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  15. That was ________________ to happen.
  16. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  17. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  18. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  19. He was locked up in a ________________.
  20. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  21. Have you met the new head ________________?
  22. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  24. Do you need a ________________ with that?

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

Answer key

  1. cell — a phone
  2. sharp — with an edge
  3. cell — in biology
  4. rest — a break
  5. prune — the fruit
  6. prune — to trim
  7. coach — a trainer
  8. rest — what's left
  9. bat — for baseball
  10. coach — pulled by horses
  11. sharp — exactly
  12. bound — obliged
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. prune — to trim
  15. bound — certain
  16. bound — tied together
  17. hand — in cards
  18. hand — part of the body
  19. cell — in a prison
  20. sharp — clever
  21. coach — a trainer
  22. rest — what's left
  23. bat — the animal
  24. hand — help

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