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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 120 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: fall · pitch · branch · court · wave · game · dip · prune

  1. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  2. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  3. The ball is in your ________________.
  4. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  5. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  6. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  7. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  8. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  9. That was a fun ________________.
  10. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  11. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  12. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  13. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  14. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  15. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  16. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  17. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  18. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  19. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  20. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  21. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  22. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  23. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  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. prune — the fruit
  2. wave — with your hand
  3. court — for sport
  4. pitch — a sports field
  5. fall — to drop
  6. dip — to sink
  7. pitch — completely
  8. wave — of the sea
  9. game — a match
  10. wave — a sudden rise
  11. prune — to trim
  12. court — of law
  13. branch — of a tree
  14. game — wild animals
  15. dip — a sauce
  16. fall — the season
  17. dip — to dunk
  18. prune — to trim
  19. branch — a division
  20. branch — of a bank
  21. court — of a king
  22. fall — to drop
  23. game — a kind of play
  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