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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 120 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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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: chest · mate · racket · prune · cold · kid · nail · coach

  1. Have you met the new head ________________?
  2. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  3. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  4. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  5. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  6. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  7. The ________________ went through the wall.
  8. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  9. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  10. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  13. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  14. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  18. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  19. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  20. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  21. Have you found your soul ________________?
  22. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  23. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  24. A ________________ is just a dried plum.

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

Answer key

  1. coach — a trainer
  2. prune — to trim
  3. prune — to trim
  4. coach — pulled by horses
  5. racket — for tennis
  6. coach — a trainer
  7. nail — for a hammer
  8. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  9. kid — to tease
  10. kid — child
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. chest — of your body
  13. mate — a friend
  14. nail — for a hammer
  15. cold — not warm
  16. cold — an illness
  17. racket — for tennis
  18. mate — to breed
  19. racket — a loud noise
  20. nail — on a finger
  21. mate — a partner
  22. chest — of your body
  23. chest — a box
  24. prune — the fruit

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