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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: scale · pit · squash · row · land · prune · rest · pitch

  1. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  2. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  3. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  4. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  5. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  6. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  7. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  8. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  9. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  10. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  11. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  12. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  13. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  14. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  15. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  16. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  17. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  18. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  19. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  20. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  21. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  22. When are we going to ________________?
  23. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  24. A ________________ is just a dried plum.

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

Answer key

  1. scale — in music
  2. pit — a fruit stone
  3. pitch — a sports field
  4. prune — to trim
  5. scale — for weighing
  6. pitch — completely
  7. row — a line
  8. scale — size or range
  9. row — a quarrel
  10. squash — the vegetable
  11. land — a country
  12. pit — a hole
  13. rest — what's left
  14. land — ground
  15. pit — in a race
  16. prune — to trim
  17. rest — a break
  18. squash — to crush
  19. squash — the sport
  20. pitch — a sales talk
  21. rest — what's left
  22. land — to come down
  23. row — to paddle
  24. prune — the fruit

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