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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: chair · season · prune · mine · trunk · cold · stick · pitcher

  1. He is an ace ________________.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  4. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  5. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  6. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  7. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  8. Did you ________________ the meat?
  9. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  10. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  13. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  14. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  15. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  16. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  17. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  18. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  19. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  20. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  21. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  24. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — in baseball
  2. cold — an illness
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. chair — to sit on
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. prune — to trim
  7. trunk — of a tree
  8. season — to add flavour
  9. mine — an explosive
  10. stick — a piece of wood
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. prune — the fruit
  13. chair — a leader
  14. trunk — of a car
  15. stick — to attach or keep to
  16. prune — to trim
  17. season — in sport
  18. mine — for digging
  19. mine — belonging to me
  20. season — of the year
  21. chair — a professorship
  22. cold — not warm
  23. trunk — of an elephant
  24. stick — a piece of wood

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