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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: rush · plane · mark · coach · band · mine · prune · last

  1. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  2. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  3. Have you met the new head ________________?
  4. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  5. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  6. That must've been a ________________.
  7. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  8. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  9. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  10. The ________________ took off on time.
  11. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  12. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  13. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  14. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  15. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  16. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  17. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  18. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  19. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  20. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  21. False peace will not ________________.
  22. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  23. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  24. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.

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

Answer key

  1. last — final
  2. band — a music group
  3. coach — a trainer
  4. plane — in geometry
  5. prune — the fruit
  6. rush — a thrill
  7. mark — to pay attention
  8. mine — belonging to me
  9. mine — for digging
  10. plane — an aircraft
  11. mark — a grade
  12. prune — to trim
  13. coach — pulled by horses
  14. last — finally
  15. mark — a trace
  16. mine — an explosive
  17. band — a rubber band
  18. rush — to hurry
  19. band — a ring
  20. rush — hurry
  21. last — to go on
  22. coach — a trainer
  23. prune — to trim
  24. plane — 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