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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: coach · bass · wind · chest · shower · prune · file · arm

  1. Have you met the new head ________________?
  2. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  3. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  4. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  5. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  6. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  7. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  8. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  9. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  10. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  11. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  12. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  13. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  14. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  15. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  16. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  17. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  18. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  19. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  20. My father caught me by the ________________.
  21. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  22. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  23. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  24. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.

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

Answer key

  1. coach — a trainer
  2. file — a line of people
  3. prune — to trim
  4. shower — rain
  5. coach — pulled by horses
  6. prune — to trim
  7. file — a document
  8. arm — part of the body
  9. chest — a box
  10. bass — the instrument
  11. chest — of your body
  12. arm — a part of something
  13. wind — moving air
  14. chest — of your body
  15. prune — the fruit
  16. file — a tool
  17. coach — a trainer
  18. bass — low music
  19. bass — the fish
  20. arm — part of the body
  21. wind — moving air
  22. shower — to wash
  23. shower — a meteor shower
  24. wind — to turn a key

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