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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: prune · pitch · cold · rest · deal · wound · ground · fall

  1. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  2. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  7. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  8. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  9. There's no middle ________________.
  10. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  11. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  12. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  13. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  14. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  15. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  16. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  17. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  18. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  19. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  20. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  23. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  24. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.

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

Answer key

  1. rest — a break
  2. fall — to drop
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. rest — what's left
  5. cold — not warm
  6. pitch — a sports field
  7. prune — to trim
  8. pitch — completely
  9. ground — a position
  10. fall — to drop
  11. prune — to trim
  12. wound — past of 'wind'
  13. prune — the fruit
  14. deal — to handle
  15. deal — an agreement
  16. wound — an injury
  17. fall — the season
  18. ground — the earth
  19. deal — a big deal
  20. pitch — a sales talk
  21. cold — an illness
  22. ground — crushed
  23. wound — an injury
  24. rest — what's left

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