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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. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  2. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  3. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  4. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  5. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  6. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  7. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  8. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  11. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  12. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  13. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  14. There's no middle ________________.
  15. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  16. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  17. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  18. When are we going to ________________?
  19. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  20. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  21. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  22. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  23. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  24. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. content — the amount
  3. land — a country
  4. pitch — a sports field
  5. prune — to trim
  6. prune — the fruit
  7. content — happy
  8. pit — a hole
  9. bat — the animal
  10. pit — a fruit stone
  11. wind — moving air
  12. pitch — completely
  13. pit — in a race
  14. ground — a position
  15. pitch — a sales talk
  16. ground — the earth
  17. wind — moving air
  18. land — to come down
  19. ground — crushed
  20. bat — for baseball
  21. wind — to turn a key
  22. content — videos and posts
  23. land — ground
  24. bat — in an idiom

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