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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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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: mouse · lash · hand · cold · bay · wind · coach · prune

  1. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  2. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  3. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  4. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  5. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  6. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  7. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  8. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  9. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  13. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  14. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  15. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  16. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  17. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  18. My mare is ________________ in color.
  19. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  22. Have you met the new head ________________?
  23. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  24. Do you need a ________________ with that?

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. mouse — the animal
  3. lash — to lash out
  4. wind — to turn a key
  5. hand — part of the body
  6. lash — a whip stroke
  7. mouse — the animal
  8. coach — pulled by horses
  9. coach — a trainer
  10. cold — not warm
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. lash — an eyelash
  13. wind — moving air
  14. mouse — for a computer
  15. hand — in cards
  16. prune — the fruit
  17. bay — to keep at bay
  18. bay — a horse colour
  19. prune — to trim
  20. cold — an illness
  21. bay — a part of the sea
  22. coach — a trainer
  23. wind — moving air
  24. hand — help

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