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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 116 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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  2. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  3. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  4. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  5. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  6. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  7. Did you ________________ the meat?
  8. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  9. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  10. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  11. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  12. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  13. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  14. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  15. The ________________ took off on time.
  16. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  17. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  18. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. capital — money
  3. spring — a coil
  4. cue — a hint
  5. capital — a big letter
  6. spring — of water
  7. season — to add flavour
  8. capital — a city
  9. cue — a signal
  10. prune — to trim
  11. plane — a tool
  12. season — of the year
  13. cue — for pool
  14. prune — the fruit
  15. plane — an aircraft
  16. plane — in geometry
  17. spring — the season
  18. season — in 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