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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. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  2. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  3. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  4. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  5. False peace will not ________________.
  6. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  7. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  8. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  9. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  10. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  11. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  12. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  13. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  14. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  15. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  16. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  17. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  18. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  19. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  20. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  21. Have you found your soul ________________?
  22. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  23. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  24. He's taking a ________________ right now.

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — a sales talk
  2. net — after costs
  3. prune — to trim
  4. branch — of a bank
  5. last — to go on
  6. branch — of a tree
  7. prune — the fruit
  8. spring — the season
  9. shower — a meteor shower
  10. shower — rain
  11. last — final
  12. pitch — a sports field
  13. net — for catching
  14. pitch — completely
  15. mate — to breed
  16. spring — of water
  17. spring — a coil
  18. mate — a friend
  19. branch — a division
  20. last — finally
  21. mate — a partner
  22. prune — to trim
  23. net — in sport
  24. shower — to wash

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