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

Word bank: prune · track · ground · chest · pitch · last · band · court

  1. False peace will not ________________.
  2. There's no middle ________________.
  3. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  4. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  5. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  6. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  7. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  8. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  9. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  10. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  11. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  12. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  13. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  14. The ball is in your ________________.
  15. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  16. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  17. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  18. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  19. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  20. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  21. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  22. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  23. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  24. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.

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

Answer key

  1. last — to go on
  2. ground — a position
  3. track — a song
  4. band — a rubber band
  5. band — a music group
  6. pitch — a sports field
  7. track — to keep track
  8. ground — the earth
  9. court — of law
  10. prune — to trim
  11. prune — to trim
  12. last — finally
  13. chest — of your body
  14. court — for sport
  15. track — a path
  16. last — final
  17. ground — crushed
  18. band — a ring
  19. court — of a king
  20. chest — of your body
  21. chest — a box
  22. pitch — a sales talk
  23. prune — the fruit
  24. pitch — completely

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