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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: bat · ball · last · prune · sharp · pit · rash · branch

  1. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  2. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  5. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  6. It's one o'clock ________________.
  7. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  8. The King held a masked ________________.
  9. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  10. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  13. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  14. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  15. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  16. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  17. Don't do anything ________________.
  18. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  19. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  20. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  21. False peace will not ________________.
  22. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  23. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  24. I seem to be developing a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — for baseball
  2. pit — a hole
  3. bat — the animal
  4. ball — a great time
  5. branch — a division
  6. sharp — exactly
  7. last — final
  8. ball — a dance
  9. pit — in a race
  10. ball — a round shape
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. pit — a fruit stone
  13. last — finally
  14. sharp — with an edge
  15. branch — of a tree
  16. prune — to trim
  17. rash — hasty
  18. prune — to trim
  19. branch — of a bank
  20. rash — a series
  21. last — to go on
  22. prune — the fruit
  23. sharp — clever
  24. rash — on the skin

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