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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 120 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. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  2. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  3. When are we going to ________________?
  4. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  5. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  6. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  7. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  10. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  11. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  14. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  15. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  16. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  17. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  18. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  19. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  20. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  21. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  22. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  23. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — a sports field
  2. vault — in gymnastics
  3. land — to come down
  4. branch — of a tree
  5. vault — a safe
  6. hand — in cards
  7. hand — part of the body
  8. cold — not warm
  9. bark — of a tree
  10. prune — to trim
  11. vault — an arched ceiling
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. pitch — a sales talk
  14. branch — a division
  15. bark — to shout
  16. hand — help
  17. prune — the fruit
  18. prune — to trim
  19. pitch — completely
  20. land — a country
  21. bark — a dog's sound
  22. branch — of a bank
  23. land — ground
  24. cold — an illness

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