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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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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. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  2. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  3. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  4. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  5. We're almost out of ________________.
  6. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  7. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  8. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  9. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  10. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  11. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  12. There's no middle ________________.
  13. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  14. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  15. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  16. Have you settled on a ________________?
  17. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  18. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  19. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  20. You don't need to ________________ round.
  21. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  22. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  23. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  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. pitch — a sales talk
  2. squash — the sport
  3. kick — a thrill
  4. hand — help
  5. pop — soda
  6. hand — in cards
  7. squash — to crush
  8. pop — music
  9. date — on the calendar
  10. ground — crushed
  11. ground — the earth
  12. ground — a position
  13. prune — to trim
  14. pitch — a sports field
  15. prune — the fruit
  16. date — on the calendar
  17. kick — with a leg
  18. squash — the vegetable
  19. pitch — completely
  20. pop — to visit
  21. date — the fruit
  22. hand — part of the body
  23. kick — in football
  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