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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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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: chest · bear · pitch · spell · court · prune · march · sharp

  1. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  2. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  3. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  4. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  5. How do you ________________ your surname?
  6. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  7. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  8. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  9. The ball is in your ________________.
  10. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  11. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  12. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  13. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  14. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  15. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  16. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  17. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  18. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  19. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  20. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  21. It's one o'clock ________________.
  22. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  23. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  24. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. chest — of your body
  3. spell — a short time
  4. sharp — with an edge
  5. spell — letters
  6. march — the month
  7. pitch — a sales talk
  8. bear — to put up with
  9. court — for sport
  10. prune — to trim
  11. chest — a box
  12. bear — the animal
  13. prune — the fruit
  14. pitch — a sports field
  15. court — of law
  16. spell — magic
  17. sharp — clever
  18. chest — of your body
  19. march — music
  20. bear — the animal
  21. sharp — exactly
  22. pitch — completely
  23. prune — to trim
  24. court — of a king

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