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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.

Make a worksheet

Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

Words on the sheet
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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: prune · coach · chair · wound · cold · last · court · perch

  1. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  2. False peace will not ________________.
  3. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  4. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  5. Have you met the new head ________________?
  6. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  7. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  8. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. The ball is in your ________________.
  11. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  12. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  13. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  14. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  17. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  18. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  19. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  20. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  21. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  22. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — for a bird
  2. last — to go on
  3. coach — pulled by horses
  4. perch — the fish
  5. coach — a trainer
  6. prune — to trim
  7. last — final
  8. court — of a king
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. court — for sport
  11. wound — an injury
  12. chair — a professorship
  13. wound — an injury
  14. chair — a leader
  15. cold — an illness
  16. chair — to sit on
  17. prune — to trim
  18. last — finally
  19. prune — the fruit
  20. perch — for a bird
  21. wound — past of 'wind'
  22. court — of law
  23. cold — not warm
  24. coach — a trainer

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