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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: tear · pitch · swing · ruler · chest · prune · coach · mate

  1. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  2. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  3. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  4. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  5. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  6. Have you met the new head ________________?
  7. David sat on the ________________.
  8. Have you found your soul ________________?
  9. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  10. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  11. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  12. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  13. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  14. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  15. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  16. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  17. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  18. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  19. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  20. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  21. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  22. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  23. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  24. The people resisted their cruel ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a friend
  2. prune — to trim
  3. pitch — completely
  4. mate — to breed
  5. tear — to rip
  6. coach — a trainer
  7. swing — to play on
  8. mate — a partner
  9. tear — from crying
  10. chest — of your body
  11. tear — from crying
  12. prune — to trim
  13. swing — in golf
  14. pitch — a sports field
  15. prune — the fruit
  16. swing — music
  17. coach — a trainer
  18. ruler — for measuring
  19. pitch — a sales talk
  20. ruler — for measuring
  21. chest — a box
  22. coach — pulled by horses
  23. chest — of your body
  24. ruler — a monarch

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