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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 · court · firm · scale · wound · date · prune · land

  1. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  2. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  3. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  4. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  5. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  6. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  7. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  8. He is an ace ________________.
  9. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  10. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  11. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  12. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  13. When are we going to ________________?
  14. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  15. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  16. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  17. Have you settled on a ________________?
  18. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  19. The ball is in your ________________.
  20. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  21. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  22. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  23. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  24. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. court — of law
  3. date — the fruit
  4. land — a country
  5. firm — decided
  6. firm — steady
  7. scale — in music
  8. pitcher — in baseball
  9. prune — to trim
  10. date — on the calendar
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. prune — to trim
  13. land — to come down
  14. firm — a company
  15. wound — an injury
  16. scale — size or range
  17. date — on the calendar
  18. wound — past of 'wind'
  19. court — for sport
  20. land — ground
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. prune — the fruit
  23. court — of a king
  24. scale — for weighing

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