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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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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: prune · fall · bank · pit · court · bat · snap · present

  1. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  2. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  5. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  6. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  7. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  8. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  9. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  10. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  11. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  12. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  13. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  14. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  15. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  16. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  17. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  18. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  19. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  20. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  21. The ball is in your ________________.
  22. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  23. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  24. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. court — of law
  3. bat — the animal
  4. prune — to trim
  5. bat — in an idiom
  6. pit — a fruit stone
  7. snap — to speak sharply
  8. present — a gift
  9. bat — for baseball
  10. pit — in a race
  11. snap — to click
  12. fall — to drop
  13. pit — a hole
  14. prune — the fruit
  15. fall — the season
  16. fall — to drop
  17. bank — of a river
  18. bank — for money
  19. court — of a king
  20. bank — for money
  21. court — for sport
  22. present — the time now
  23. snap — to snap out of it
  24. present — there

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