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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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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: chest · last · prune · cap · sharp · pitcher · rush · race

  1. He is an ace ________________.
  2. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  3. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  4. It's one o'clock ________________.
  5. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  6. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  7. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  8. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  9. That must've been a ________________.
  10. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  11. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  12. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  13. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  14. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  15. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  16. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  17. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  18. False peace will not ________________.
  19. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  20. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  21. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  22. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  23. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  24. The polar ice ________________ is melting.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — in baseball
  2. chest — of your body
  3. sharp — clever
  4. sharp — exactly
  5. chest — of your body
  6. cap — a lid
  7. rush — hurry
  8. rush — to hurry
  9. rush — a thrill
  10. last — final
  11. prune — to trim
  12. pitcher — a jug
  13. cap — a hat
  14. race — the arms race
  15. prune — to trim
  16. sharp — with an edge
  17. race — a contest
  18. last — to go on
  19. prune — the fruit
  20. race — humankind
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. chest — a box
  23. last — finally
  24. cap — of ice

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