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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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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: wind · drill · pitcher · pitch · swing · prune · snap · lie

  1. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  2. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  3. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  4. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  5. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  6. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  7. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  8. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  9. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  10. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  11. David sat on the ________________.
  12. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  13. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  14. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  15. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  16. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  17. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  18. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  19. He is an ace ________________.
  20. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  21. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  22. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  23. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  24. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to speak sharply
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. prune — to trim
  4. lie — an untruth
  5. swing — music
  6. lie — to recline
  7. wind — moving air
  8. drill — a practice
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. prune — the fruit
  11. swing — to play on
  12. pitch — a sales talk
  13. prune — to trim
  14. snap — to click
  15. wind — to turn a key
  16. wind — moving air
  17. lie — an untruth
  18. pitch — completely
  19. pitcher — in baseball
  20. snap — to snap out of it
  21. drill — the tool
  22. drill — army training
  23. pitch — a sports field
  24. swing — in golf

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