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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: prune · pitch · file · squash · fine · kick · last · degree

  1. False peace will not ________________.
  2. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  3. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  4. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  5. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  6. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  7. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  8. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  9. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  10. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  11. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  12. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  13. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  14. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  15. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  16. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  19. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  20. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  21. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  22. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  23. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  24. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.

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

Answer key

  1. last — to go on
  2. prune — the fruit
  3. squash — the vegetable
  4. degree — an amount
  5. fine — high quality
  6. last — final
  7. pitch — a sales talk
  8. file — a line of people
  9. squash — the sport
  10. last — finally
  11. fine — a penalty
  12. fine — all right
  13. pitch — completely
  14. squash — to crush
  15. file — a document
  16. prune — to trim
  17. degree — temperature
  18. prune — to trim
  19. file — a tool
  20. degree — from a university
  21. kick — with a leg
  22. kick — a thrill
  23. pitch — a sports field
  24. kick — in football

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