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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: game · arm · jam · pitch · root · prune · mine · cold

  1. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  2. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  3. That was a fun ________________.
  4. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  5. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  6. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  7. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  8. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  11. My father caught me by the ________________.
  12. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  13. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  14. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  15. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  16. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  17. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  22. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  23. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  24. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.

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

Answer key

  1. arm — a part of something
  2. root — of a plant
  3. game — a match
  4. mine — an explosive
  5. arm — part of the body
  6. pitch — a sales talk
  7. prune — to trim
  8. root — the cause
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. jam — in traffic
  11. arm — part of the body
  12. prune — to trim
  13. jam — to spread on bread
  14. prune — the fruit
  15. mine — belonging to me
  16. pitch — a sports field
  17. mine — for digging
  18. cold — not warm
  19. jam — a tight spot
  20. cold — an illness
  21. game — a kind of play
  22. root — of a word
  23. game — wild animals
  24. pitch — completely

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