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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: current · fork · court · prune · present · vault · pitch · net

  1. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  2. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  3. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  4. The ball is in your ________________.
  5. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  6. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  7. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  8. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  9. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  10. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  11. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  12. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  13. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  14. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  15. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  16. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  17. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  18. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  19. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  20. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  21. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  22. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  23. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  24. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.

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

Answer key

  1. current — happening now
  2. prune — to trim
  3. present — the time now
  4. court — for sport
  5. vault — an arched ceiling
  6. court — of law
  7. prune — to trim
  8. prune — the fruit
  9. pitch — a sales talk
  10. current — electric
  11. present — there
  12. net — in sport
  13. net — for catching
  14. net — after costs
  15. present — a gift
  16. vault — in gymnastics
  17. pitch — a sports field
  18. court — of a king
  19. current — of water
  20. fork — to eat with
  21. fork — a garden tool
  22. pitch — completely
  23. vault — a safe
  24. fork — in a road

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