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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 black ________________ roamed the forest.
  3. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  6. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  7. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  8. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  9. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  10. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  11. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  12. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  13. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  14. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  15. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  16. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  17. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  18. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. bear — the animal
  3. spring — a coil
  4. capital — a city
  5. spring — the season
  6. track — a song
  7. prune — to trim
  8. bear — the animal
  9. bear — to put up with
  10. wake — to stop sleeping
  11. capital — a big letter
  12. wake — before a funeral
  13. wake — a trail
  14. prune — the fruit
  15. capital — money
  16. track — to keep track
  17. spring — of water
  18. track — a path

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