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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: mine · wake · swing · pitch · season · prune · board · pitcher

  1. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  2. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  3. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  4. David sat on the ________________.
  5. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  6. He is an ace ________________.
  7. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  8. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  9. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  10. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  11. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  12. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  13. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  14. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  15. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  16. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  17. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  18. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  19. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  20. Did you ________________ the meat?
  21. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  22. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  23. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  24. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.

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

Answer key

  1. season — in sport
  2. wake — before a funeral
  3. prune — to trim
  4. swing — to play on
  5. board — to get on
  6. pitcher — in baseball
  7. mine — for digging
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. swing — in golf
  11. season — of the year
  12. mine — belonging to me
  13. board — a flat piece
  14. pitch — a sales talk
  15. board — a committee
  16. mine — an explosive
  17. prune — to trim
  18. pitch — a sports field
  19. prune — the fruit
  20. season — to add flavour
  21. pitch — completely
  22. swing — music
  23. wake — a trail
  24. wake — to stop sleeping

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