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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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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: club · prune · chest · rest · perch · fork · pitch · bat

  1. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  2. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  5. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  6. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  7. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  8. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  9. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  10. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  11. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  12. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  13. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  14. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  15. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  16. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  17. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  18. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  19. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  20. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  21. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  22. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  23. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  24. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — in a road
  2. bat — in an idiom
  3. bat — the animal
  4. fork — to eat with
  5. bat — for baseball
  6. pitch — a sales talk
  7. chest — of your body
  8. prune — the fruit
  9. perch — the fish
  10. rest — what's left
  11. club — a group
  12. prune — to trim
  13. chest — of your body
  14. rest — what's left
  15. pitch — completely
  16. club — for golf
  17. chest — a box
  18. club — for dancing
  19. fork — a garden tool
  20. perch — for a bird
  21. pitch — a sports field
  22. rest — a break
  23. prune — to trim
  24. perch — for a bird

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