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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: staff · bass · game · prune · drill · squash · band · pitch

  1. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  2. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  3. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  4. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  5. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  6. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  7. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  8. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  9. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  10. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  11. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  12. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  13. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  14. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  15. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  16. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  17. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  18. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  19. That was a fun ________________.
  20. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  21. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  22. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  23. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  24. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a ring
  2. pitch — a sports field
  3. squash — the sport
  4. drill — a practice
  5. bass — the fish
  6. prune — to trim
  7. staff — employees
  8. game — a kind of play
  9. game — wild animals
  10. bass — low music
  11. band — a music group
  12. band — a rubber band
  13. pitch — completely
  14. bass — the instrument
  15. drill — army training
  16. pitch — a sales talk
  17. drill — the tool
  18. prune — the fruit
  19. game — a match
  20. squash — to crush
  21. prune — to trim
  22. staff — employees
  23. staff — a stick
  24. squash — the vegetable

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