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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: net · race · prune · ground · pitch · track · spring · rule

  1. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  2. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  3. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  4. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  5. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  6. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  7. There's no middle ________________.
  8. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  9. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  10. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  11. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  12. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  13. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  14. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  15. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  16. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  17. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  18. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  19. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  20. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  21. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  22. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  23. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  24. The flowers bloom in the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. race — a contest
  2. prune — to trim
  3. track — to keep track
  4. pitch — a sports field
  5. track — a path
  6. spring — of water
  7. ground — a position
  8. prune — to trim
  9. pitch — completely
  10. spring — a coil
  11. ground — the earth
  12. ground — crushed
  13. track — a song
  14. net — after costs
  15. rule — a law
  16. rule — government
  17. net — in sport
  18. rule — to rule out
  19. net — for catching
  20. pitch — a sales talk
  21. race — humankind
  22. race — the arms race
  23. prune — the fruit
  24. spring — the season

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