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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. He is an ace ________________.
  3. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  4. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  5. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  6. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  7. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  8. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  9. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  10. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  11. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  12. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  13. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  14. There's no middle ________________.
  15. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  16. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  17. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  18. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  19. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  20. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  21. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  22. Did you ________________ the meat?
  23. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  24. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — the fruit
  2. pitcher — in baseball
  3. hand — part of the body
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. season — in sport
  6. ground — the earth
  7. mine — for digging
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. season — of the year
  10. mine — belonging to me
  11. hand — help
  12. prune — to trim
  13. board — a flat piece
  14. ground — a position
  15. hand — in cards
  16. shower — rain
  17. shower — to wash
  18. board — to get on
  19. ground — crushed
  20. prune — to trim
  21. board — a committee
  22. season — to add flavour
  23. mine — an explosive
  24. shower — a meteor shower

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