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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: pit · lean · bat · last · court · prune · mine · fan

  1. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  2. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  3. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  4. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  5. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  6. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  7. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  8. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  9. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  10. False peace will not ________________.
  11. The ball is in your ________________.
  12. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  13. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  14. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  15. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  18. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  19. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  20. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  21. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  22. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  23. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  24. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. prune — the fruit
  3. last — finally
  4. pit — a fruit stone
  5. pit — in a race
  6. court — of law
  7. last — final
  8. lean — thin
  9. mine — for digging
  10. last — to go on
  11. court — for sport
  12. fan — to cool the air
  13. lean — to bend
  14. fan — a supporter
  15. pit — a hole
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. prune — to trim
  18. mine — an explosive
  19. bat — the animal
  20. court — of a king
  21. mine — belonging to me
  22. bat — for baseball
  23. lean — to rest against
  24. fan — a supporter

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