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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: chest · coach · pitcher · fork · pit · kid · march · prune

  1. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  2. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  3. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  4. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  5. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  6. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  7. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  8. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  9. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  10. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  11. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  12. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  13. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  14. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  15. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  16. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  17. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  18. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  19. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  20. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  21. Have you met the new head ________________?
  22. He is an ace ________________.
  23. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  24. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — the fruit
  2. kid — child
  3. coach — pulled by horses
  4. pit — a hole
  5. pit — in a race
  6. kid — to tease
  7. pit — a fruit stone
  8. chest — of your body
  9. chest — a box
  10. coach — a trainer
  11. march — the month
  12. march — the month
  13. fork — a garden tool
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. march — music
  16. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  17. pitcher — a jug
  18. fork — in a road
  19. prune — to trim
  20. fork — to eat with
  21. coach — a trainer
  22. pitcher — in baseball
  23. chest — of your body
  24. prune — to trim

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