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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. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  2. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  3. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  4. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  5. There's no middle ________________.
  6. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  7. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  8. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  9. We're on a ________________ here.
  10. That must've been a ________________.
  11. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  12. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  13. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  14. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  15. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  16. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  17. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  18. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  19. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  20. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  21. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  22. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  23. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  24. David sat on the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — crushed
  2. swing — music
  3. spring — of water
  4. net — in sport
  5. ground — a position
  6. prune — to trim
  7. prune — to trim
  8. prune — the fruit
  9. roll — on a roll
  10. rush — a thrill
  11. spring — a coil
  12. rush — hurry
  13. pitch — a sports field
  14. pitch — completely
  15. roll — a cake
  16. roll — a list
  17. net — for catching
  18. swing — in golf
  19. ground — the earth
  20. net — after costs
  21. spring — the season
  22. pitch — a sales talk
  23. rush — to hurry
  24. swing — to play on

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