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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 120 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: pitch · prune · bowl · chest · wake · spring · object · key

  1. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  2. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  3. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  4. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  5. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  6. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  7. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  8. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  9. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  10. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  11. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  12. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  13. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  14. This piece is in a major ________________.
  15. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  16. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  17. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  18. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  19. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  20. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  21. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  22. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  23. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  24. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.

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

Answer key

  1. object — an aim
  2. prune — to trim
  3. chest — of your body
  4. chest — of your body
  5. wake — before a funeral
  6. pitch — a sales talk
  7. pitch — a sports field
  8. chest — a box
  9. bowl — to roll
  10. prune — to trim
  11. object — to protest
  12. key — for a lock
  13. wake — a trail
  14. key — in music
  15. bowl — a dish
  16. key — the most important part
  17. object — a thing
  18. pitch — completely
  19. spring — a coil
  20. prune — the fruit
  21. spring — the season
  22. bowl — a football final
  23. spring — of water
  24. wake — to stop sleeping

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