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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. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  2. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  5. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  6. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  7. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  8. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  9. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  10. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  11. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  12. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  13. David sat on the ________________.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  16. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  17. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  18. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  21. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  22. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  23. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  24. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — the fruit
  2. pitch — completely
  3. bat — the animal
  4. mine — for digging
  5. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  6. prune — to trim
  7. mine — an explosive
  8. kid — child
  9. toast — a drink to someone
  10. spring — of water
  11. spring — the season
  12. mine — belonging to me
  13. swing — to play on
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. pitch — a sports field
  16. swing — in golf
  17. prune — to trim
  18. toast — the most admired
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. swing — music
  21. spring — a coil
  22. pitch — a sales talk
  23. kid — to tease
  24. toast — bread

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