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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 120 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: band · prune · race · straw · bulb · pitch · charge · land

  1. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  2. The tickets are free of ________________.
  3. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  4. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  5. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  6. The light ________________ burned out.
  7. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  8. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  9. When are we going to ________________?
  10. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  11. I've got to change the light ________________.
  12. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  13. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  14. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  15. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  16. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  17. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  18. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  19. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  20. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  21. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  22. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  23. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  24. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.

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

Answer key

  1. bulb — of a plant
  2. charge — a price
  3. straw — dry grass
  4. prune — the fruit
  5. straw — a straw man
  6. bulb — for light
  7. race — humankind
  8. pitch — a sales talk
  9. land — to come down
  10. band — a music group
  11. bulb — for light
  12. band — a ring
  13. pitch — a sports field
  14. prune — to trim
  15. pitch — completely
  16. straw — to clutch at straws
  17. land — ground
  18. land — a country
  19. prune — to trim
  20. race — a contest
  21. race — the arms race
  22. band — a rubber band
  23. charge — electricity
  24. charge — in control

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