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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. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  2. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  3. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  4. There's no middle ________________.
  5. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  6. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  7. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  8. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  9. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  10. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  11. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  12. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  13. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  14. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  15. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  16. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  17. It's one o'clock ________________.
  18. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  19. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  20. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  21. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  22. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  23. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  24. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — clever
  2. pitch — a sports field
  3. bass — the instrument
  4. ground — a position
  5. branch — of a bank
  6. sharp — with an edge
  7. pitch — completely
  8. mine — an explosive
  9. ground — crushed
  10. wax — in the ear
  11. branch — a division
  12. mine — belonging to me
  13. prune — the fruit
  14. bass — low music
  15. prune — to trim
  16. wax — to grow
  17. sharp — exactly
  18. bass — the fish
  19. pitch — a sales talk
  20. wax — for sculpting
  21. ground — the earth
  22. prune — to trim
  23. mine — for digging
  24. branch — of a tree

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