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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: spring · last · pitch · fall · bay · prune · racket · bass

  1. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  2. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  3. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  4. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  5. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  6. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  7. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  8. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  9. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  10. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  11. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  12. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  13. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  14. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  15. My mare is ________________ in color.
  16. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  17. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  18. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  19. False peace will not ________________.
  20. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  21. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  22. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  23. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  24. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.

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

Answer key

  1. last — final
  2. spring — a coil
  3. pitch — a sports field
  4. bass — low music
  5. bass — the instrument
  6. pitch — a sales talk
  7. racket — a loud noise
  8. spring — of water
  9. fall — to drop
  10. racket — for tennis
  11. fall — to drop
  12. fall — the season
  13. prune — to trim
  14. prune — to trim
  15. bay — a horse colour
  16. pitch — completely
  17. spring — the season
  18. last — finally
  19. last — to go on
  20. bay — a part of the sea
  21. bass — the fish
  22. bay — to keep at bay
  23. prune — the fruit
  24. racket — for tennis

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