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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: fall · stem · coach · wound · file · wave · prune · dip

  1. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  2. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  3. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  4. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  5. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  6. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  7. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  8. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  9. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  10. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  11. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  12. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  13. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  14. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  15. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  16. Have you met the new head ________________?
  17. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  18. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  19. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  20. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  21. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  22. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  23. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  24. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. coach — pulled by horses
  2. file — a line of people
  3. prune — the fruit
  4. wound — past of 'wind'
  5. fall — to drop
  6. prune — to trim
  7. wave — a sudden rise
  8. wave — of the sea
  9. stem — to come from
  10. wave — with your hand
  11. stem — a stem cell
  12. dip — to dunk
  13. dip — to sink
  14. fall — the season
  15. wound — an injury
  16. coach — a trainer
  17. prune — to trim
  18. coach — a trainer
  19. wound — an injury
  20. file — a document
  21. fall — to drop
  22. dip — a sauce
  23. stem — of a plant
  24. file — a tool

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