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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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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 · fall · content · cap · pitch · race · march · drill

  1. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  2. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  3. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  4. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  5. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  6. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  7. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  8. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  9. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  10. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  11. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  12. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  13. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  14. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  15. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  16. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  17. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  18. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  19. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  20. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  21. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  22. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  23. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  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. prune — to trim
  2. pitch — a sports field
  3. drill — army training
  4. cap — a lid
  5. march — the month
  6. content — happy
  7. march — music
  8. fall — to drop
  9. march — the month
  10. content — the amount
  11. prune — the fruit
  12. prune — to trim
  13. race — humankind
  14. content — videos and posts
  15. cap — of ice
  16. fall — the season
  17. drill — the tool
  18. cap — a hat
  19. race — a contest
  20. race — the arms race
  21. pitch — a sales talk
  22. drill — a practice
  23. fall — to drop
  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