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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. The ________________ took off on time.
  3. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  4. He was locked up in a ________________.
  5. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  6. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  7. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  8. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  9. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  10. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  11. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  12. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  13. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  14. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  15. There's no middle ________________.
  16. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  17. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  18. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  19. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  20. The ball is in your ________________.
  21. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  22. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  23. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  24. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — crushed
  2. plane — an aircraft
  3. pitch — a sports field
  4. cell — in a prison
  5. mouse — for a computer
  6. fork — a garden tool
  7. mouse — the animal
  8. fork — to eat with
  9. court — of law
  10. mouse — the animal
  11. fork — in a road
  12. plane — in geometry
  13. cell — in biology
  14. ground — the earth
  15. ground — a position
  16. cell — a phone
  17. prune — to trim
  18. prune — to trim
  19. court — of a king
  20. court — for sport
  21. plane — a tool
  22. pitch — completely
  23. prune — the fruit
  24. pitch — a sales talk

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