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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: wind · pound · charge · bat · prune · straw · capital · coach

  1. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  2. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  3. Have you met the new head ________________?
  4. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  5. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  6. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  7. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  8. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  9. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  10. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  11. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  12. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  13. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  14. The tickets are free of ________________.
  15. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  16. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  19. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  20. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  21. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  22. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  23. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  24. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — the animal
  2. coach — a trainer
  3. coach — a trainer
  4. bat — in an idiom
  5. wind — moving air
  6. charge — electricity
  7. prune — to trim
  8. straw — dry grass
  9. pound — for dogs
  10. coach — pulled by horses
  11. pound — to hit hard
  12. capital — a city
  13. capital — a big letter
  14. charge — a price
  15. wind — moving air
  16. charge — in control
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. pound — a weight
  19. prune — the fruit
  20. prune — to trim
  21. straw — to clutch at straws
  22. wind — to turn a key
  23. straw — a straw man
  24. capital — money

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