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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 116 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: patient · rush · scale · band · cold · prune · snap · pitch

  1. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  2. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  3. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  4. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  5. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  6. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  7. That must've been a ________________.
  8. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  11. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  12. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  15. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  16. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  17. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  18. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  19. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  20. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  21. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  24. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — completely
  2. band — a ring
  3. rush — hurry
  4. snap — to speak sharply
  5. prune — to trim
  6. patient — calm and waiting
  7. rush — a thrill
  8. rush — to hurry
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. prune — the fruit
  11. scale — for weighing
  12. prune — to trim
  13. cold — not warm
  14. snap — to click
  15. pitch — a sports field
  16. band — a music group
  17. scale — in music
  18. band — a rubber band
  19. patient — a sick person
  20. scale — size or range
  21. pitch — a sales talk
  22. cold — an illness
  23. snap — to snap out of it
  24. patient — a sick person

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