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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: pitcher · club · squash · prune · nail · ground · file · chest

  1. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  2. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  3. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  4. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  5. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  6. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  7. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  8. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  9. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  10. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  11. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  12. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  13. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  14. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  15. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  16. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  17. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  18. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  19. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  20. He is an ace ________________.
  21. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  22. There's no middle ________________.
  23. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  24. The ________________ went through the wall.

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

Answer key

  1. club — for dancing
  2. club — for golf
  3. file — a line of people
  4. prune — to trim
  5. file — a tool
  6. squash — the vegetable
  7. ground — the earth
  8. squash — the sport
  9. prune — to trim
  10. nail — for a hammer
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. prune — the fruit
  13. squash — to crush
  14. chest — of your body
  15. pitcher — a jug
  16. chest — of your body
  17. nail — on a finger
  18. club — a group
  19. chest — a box
  20. pitcher — in baseball
  21. file — a document
  22. ground — a position
  23. ground — crushed
  24. nail — for a hammer

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