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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: bank · prune · coach · toast · squash · net · clip · cold

  1. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  3. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  4. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  5. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  6. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  11. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  12. Have you met the new head ________________?
  13. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  16. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  17. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  20. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  21. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  22. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  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. clip — to cut
  2. squash — the sport
  3. bank — for money
  4. toast — a drink to someone
  5. coach — a trainer
  6. prune — to trim
  7. cold — not warm
  8. toast — bread
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. squash — the vegetable
  11. net — for catching
  12. coach — a trainer
  13. prune — to trim
  14. cold — an illness
  15. bank — for money
  16. squash — to crush
  17. toast — the most admired
  18. clip — for paper
  19. bank — of a river
  20. net — in sport
  21. prune — the fruit
  22. net — after costs
  23. clip — a video
  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