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

  1. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  2. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  3. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  4. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  5. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  6. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  7. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  8. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  9. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  10. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  11. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  12. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  13. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  14. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  15. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  18. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — to crush
  2. capital — money
  3. bat — in an idiom
  4. bear — to put up with
  5. capital — a big letter
  6. squash — the sport
  7. prune — to trim
  8. fork — a garden tool
  9. fork — to eat with
  10. bear — the animal
  11. prune — the fruit
  12. fork — in a road
  13. prune — to trim
  14. bear — the animal
  15. capital — a city
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. squash — the vegetable
  18. bat — the animal

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