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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: content · prune · wind · coach · perch · spell · club · branch

  1. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  2. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  3. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  4. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  5. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  6. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  7. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  8. Have you met the new head ________________?
  9. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  10. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  11. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  12. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  13. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  14. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  15. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  16. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  17. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  18. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  19. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  20. How do you ________________ your surname?
  21. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  22. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  23. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  24. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. club — for dancing
  2. spell — magic
  3. perch — the fish
  4. content — happy
  5. perch — for a bird
  6. spell — a short time
  7. prune — to trim
  8. coach — a trainer
  9. coach — a trainer
  10. branch — a division
  11. club — a group
  12. wind — to turn a key
  13. content — videos and posts
  14. wind — moving air
  15. prune — the fruit
  16. coach — pulled by horses
  17. perch — for a bird
  18. branch — of a bank
  19. prune — to trim
  20. spell — letters
  21. wind — moving air
  22. branch — of a tree
  23. content — the amount
  24. club — for golf

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