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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 · bound · charge · face · wind · pitch · sharp · stick

  1. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  2. That was ________________ to happen.
  3. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  4. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  5. It's one o'clock ________________.
  6. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  7. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  8. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  9. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  10. The tickets are free of ________________.
  11. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  12. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  13. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  14. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  15. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  16. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  17. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  18. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  19. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  20. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  21. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  22. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  23. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  24. Where can I ________________ my mobile?

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. bound — certain
  3. prune — to trim
  4. wind — moving air
  5. sharp — exactly
  6. wind — to turn a key
  7. bound — obliged
  8. pitch — a sports field
  9. sharp — with an edge
  10. charge — a price
  11. pitch — a sales talk
  12. face — to point toward
  13. face — to confront
  14. pitch — completely
  15. charge — in control
  16. sharp — clever
  17. bound — tied together
  18. stick — to attach or keep to
  19. wind — moving air
  20. face — part of the head
  21. prune — the fruit
  22. stick — a piece of wood
  23. stick — a piece of wood
  24. charge — electricity

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