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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: kid · bat · pitch · prune · land · fork · squash · calf

  1. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  4. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  5. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  6. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  7. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  8. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  9. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  10. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  11. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  12. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  13. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  14. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  15. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  19. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  20. When are we going to ________________?
  21. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  22. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  23. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  24. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — a sales talk
  2. kid — to tease
  3. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  4. pitch — completely
  5. squash — the vegetable
  6. kid — child
  7. squash — the sport
  8. prune — to trim
  9. prune — to trim
  10. calf — of the leg
  11. bat — the animal
  12. calf — a young animal
  13. prune — the fruit
  14. land — a country
  15. fork — a garden tool
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. fork — to eat with
  18. bat — for baseball
  19. calf — a young animal
  20. land — to come down
  21. fork — in a road
  22. squash — to crush
  23. pitch — a sports field
  24. land — ground

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