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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: fall · net · bark · pitch · capital · prune · rest · file

  1. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  2. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  3. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  4. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  5. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  6. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  7. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  8. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  9. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  10. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  11. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  12. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  13. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  14. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  15. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  16. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  17. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  18. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  19. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  20. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  21. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  22. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  23. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  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. prune — to trim
  2. file — a line of people
  3. pitch — a sports field
  4. prune — to trim
  5. fall — to drop
  6. net — after costs
  7. rest — a break
  8. bark — a dog's sound
  9. bark — to shout
  10. fall — to drop
  11. file — a document
  12. net — in sport
  13. fall — the season
  14. bark — of a tree
  15. pitch — a sales talk
  16. rest — what's left
  17. capital — a big letter
  18. net — for catching
  19. capital — money
  20. rest — what's left
  21. capital — a city
  22. pitch — completely
  23. file — a tool
  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