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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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  2. There's no middle ________________.
  3. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  4. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  5. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  6. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  9. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  10. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  11. Have you found your soul ________________?
  12. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  13. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  14. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  15. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  16. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  17. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  18. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  19. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  20. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  21. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  22. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  23. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  24. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a friend
  2. ground — a position
  3. scale — size or range
  4. prune — the fruit
  5. fan — to cool the air
  6. fan — a supporter
  7. bat — the animal
  8. fan — a supporter
  9. ground — the earth
  10. bat — for baseball
  11. mate — a partner
  12. branch — of a bank
  13. branch — of a tree
  14. branch — a division
  15. pitch — a sales talk
  16. prune — to trim
  17. mate — to breed
  18. pitch — completely
  19. pitch — a sports field
  20. scale — in music
  21. bat — in an idiom
  22. ground — crushed
  23. scale — for weighing
  24. prune — to trim

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