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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: fine · kid · clip · season · sharp · chest · coach · prune

  1. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  2. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  3. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  4. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  5. It's one o'clock ________________.
  6. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  7. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  8. Did you ________________ the meat?
  9. Have you met the new head ________________?
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  12. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  13. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  14. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  15. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  16. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  17. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  18. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  19. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  22. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  23. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. sharp — clever
  3. coach — pulled by horses
  4. coach — a trainer
  5. sharp — exactly
  6. fine — all right
  7. fine — high quality
  8. season — to add flavour
  9. coach — a trainer
  10. clip — for paper
  11. prune — to trim
  12. fine — a penalty
  13. season — in sport
  14. prune — the fruit
  15. kid — to tease
  16. sharp — with an edge
  17. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  18. kid — child
  19. chest — a box
  20. clip — to cut
  21. season — of the year
  22. chest — of your body
  23. chest — of your body
  24. clip — a video

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