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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: wind · cue · ground · kid · pitch · prune · fall · mine

  1. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  2. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  3. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  4. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  5. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  6. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  7. There's no middle ________________.
  8. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  9. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  10. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  11. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  12. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  13. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  14. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  15. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  16. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  17. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  18. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  19. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  20. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  21. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  22. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  23. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  24. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — the fruit
  2. wind — moving air
  3. fall — the season
  4. fall — to drop
  5. cue — a hint
  6. pitch — a sports field
  7. ground — a position
  8. pitch — completely
  9. kid — child
  10. cue — a signal
  11. mine — an explosive
  12. prune — to trim
  13. mine — for digging
  14. wind — to turn a key
  15. wind — moving air
  16. prune — to trim
  17. ground — the earth
  18. cue — for pool
  19. pitch — a sales talk
  20. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  21. mine — belonging to me
  22. fall — to drop
  23. ground — crushed
  24. kid — to tease

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