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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: prune · mark · arm · cold · pitcher · game · land · current

  1. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  2. That was a fun ________________.
  3. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  4. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  5. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  6. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  7. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  8. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  9. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  12. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  13. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  14. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  15. When are we going to ________________?
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  18. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  19. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. He is an ace ________________.
  22. My father caught me by the ________________.
  23. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  24. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — the fruit
  2. game — a match
  3. prune — to trim
  4. mark — to pay attention
  5. prune — to trim
  6. land — ground
  7. current — happening now
  8. current — electric
  9. current — of water
  10. cold — not warm
  11. land — a country
  12. game — wild animals
  13. mark — a grade
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. land — to come down
  16. cold — an illness
  17. mark — a trace
  18. pitcher — a jug
  19. game — a kind of play
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. pitcher — in baseball
  22. arm — part of the body
  23. arm — part of the body
  24. arm — a part of something

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