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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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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: land · saw · prune · face · pitch · chest · nail · present

  1. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  2. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  3. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  4. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  5. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  6. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  7. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  8. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  9. The ________________ went through the wall.
  10. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  11. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  12. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  13. When are we going to ________________?
  14. He works in a ________________ mill.
  15. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  16. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  17. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  18. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  19. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  20. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  21. She's very handy with a ________________.
  22. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  23. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  24. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. nail — on a finger
  3. nail — for a hammer
  4. land — a country
  5. chest — of your body
  6. prune — the fruit
  7. chest — of your body
  8. present — there
  9. nail — for a hammer
  10. prune — to trim
  11. face — to confront
  12. pitch — completely
  13. land — to come down
  14. saw — the tool
  15. saw — past of 'see'
  16. chest — a box
  17. pitch — a sports field
  18. present — the time now
  19. present — a gift
  20. face — to point toward
  21. saw — the tool
  22. face — part of the head
  23. prune — to trim
  24. pitch — a sales talk

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