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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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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 · rule · court · pitcher · prune · cell · ruler · bass

  1. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  2. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  3. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  4. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  5. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  6. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  7. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  8. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  9. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  10. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  11. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  12. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  13. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  14. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  15. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  16. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  17. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  18. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  19. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  20. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  21. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  22. He was locked up in a ________________.
  23. He is an ace ________________.
  24. The ball is in your ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. pit — a fruit stone
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. ruler — for measuring
  5. bass — low music
  6. court — of law
  7. bass — the instrument
  8. cell — in biology
  9. bass — the fish
  10. pitcher — a jug
  11. rule — a law
  12. ruler — a monarch
  13. cell — a phone
  14. pit — a hole
  15. ruler — for measuring
  16. prune — the fruit
  17. pit — in a race
  18. rule — to rule out
  19. prune — to trim
  20. court — of a king
  21. rule — government
  22. cell — in a prison
  23. pitcher — in baseball
  24. court — for sport

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