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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: shower · mine · track · staff · bear · swing · prune · coach

  1. David sat on the ________________.
  2. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  3. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  4. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  5. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  6. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  7. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  8. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  9. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  10. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  11. Have you met the new head ________________?
  12. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  13. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  14. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  15. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  16. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  17. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  18. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  19. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  20. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  21. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  22. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  23. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  24. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?

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

Answer key

  1. swing — to play on
  2. staff — employees
  3. prune — to trim
  4. shower — a meteor shower
  5. coach — a trainer
  6. track — to keep track
  7. prune — the fruit
  8. bear — the animal
  9. bear — the animal
  10. mine — belonging to me
  11. coach — a trainer
  12. mine — for digging
  13. staff — employees
  14. swing — music
  15. bear — to put up with
  16. shower — to wash
  17. swing — in golf
  18. track — a song
  19. staff — a stick
  20. prune — to trim
  21. mine — an explosive
  22. shower — rain
  23. track — a path
  24. coach — pulled by horses

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