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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: pitch · prune · kid · race · mate · cap · season · jam

  1. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  3. Did you ________________ the meat?
  4. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  5. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  6. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  7. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  8. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  9. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  10. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  11. Have you found your soul ________________?
  12. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  13. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  14. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  15. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  16. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  17. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  18. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  19. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  20. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  21. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  22. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  23. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  24. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. cap — a lid
  3. season — to add flavour
  4. season — in sport
  5. kid — child
  6. mate — to breed
  7. jam — in traffic
  8. prune — to trim
  9. race — humankind
  10. season — of the year
  11. mate — a partner
  12. pitch — a sports field
  13. jam — a tight spot
  14. pitch — completely
  15. jam — to spread on bread
  16. cap — a hat
  17. mate — a friend
  18. prune — the fruit
  19. pitch — a sales talk
  20. race — a contest
  21. race — the arms race
  22. prune — to trim
  23. cap — of ice
  24. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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