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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 120 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: temple · bound · pitch · pit · prune · hand · mine · current

  1. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  2. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  3. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  4. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  5. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  6. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  7. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  8. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  9. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  10. That was ________________ to happen.
  11. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  12. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  13. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  14. When was this ________________ built?
  15. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  16. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  17. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  18. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  19. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  20. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  21. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  22. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  23. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  24. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.

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

Answer key

  1. temple — a place of worship
  2. prune — to trim
  3. hand — help
  4. prune — to trim
  5. mine — belonging to me
  6. mine — an explosive
  7. pit — a hole
  8. bound — obliged
  9. mine — for digging
  10. bound — certain
  11. hand — in cards
  12. pitch — a sports field
  13. current — happening now
  14. temple — a place of worship
  15. bound — tied together
  16. current — electric
  17. temple — side of the head
  18. pitch — completely
  19. current — of water
  20. pitch — a sales talk
  21. prune — the fruit
  22. pit — a fruit stone
  23. hand — part of the body
  24. pit — in a race

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