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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: pitch · sharp · cold · last · scale · bound · prune · rush

  1. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  2. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  3. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  4. That was ________________ to happen.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  7. False peace will not ________________.
  8. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  9. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  10. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  11. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  12. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  13. It's one o'clock ________________.
  14. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  15. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  16. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  17. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  18. That must've been a ________________.
  19. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  23. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  24. The players ran onto the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. last — finally
  3. pitch — a sales talk
  4. bound — certain
  5. cold — an illness
  6. scale — size or range
  7. last — to go on
  8. rush — hurry
  9. rush — to hurry
  10. scale — in music
  11. bound — obliged
  12. pitch — completely
  13. sharp — exactly
  14. bound — tied together
  15. last — final
  16. scale — for weighing
  17. sharp — clever
  18. rush — a thrill
  19. prune — to trim
  20. cold — not warm
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. prune — the fruit
  23. sharp — with an edge
  24. pitch — a sports field

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