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

  1. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  2. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  3. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  4. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  5. We're almost out of ________________.
  6. He is an ace ________________.
  7. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  8. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  9. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  10. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  11. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  12. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  13. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  14. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  15. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  16. Have you met the new head ________________?
  17. I'll be taking the ________________.
  18. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  19. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  20. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  21. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  22. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  23. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  24. You don't need to ________________ round.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. tube — a container
  3. fork — a garden tool
  4. capital — money
  5. pop — soda
  6. pitcher — in baseball
  7. pitcher — a jug
  8. pop — music
  9. capital — a big letter
  10. fork — to eat with
  11. hand — help
  12. fork — in a road
  13. prune — the fruit
  14. prune — to trim
  15. hand — in cards
  16. coach — a trainer
  17. tube — the underground
  18. hand — part of the body
  19. capital — a city
  20. tube — in a tire
  21. prune — to trim
  22. coach — a trainer
  23. coach — pulled by horses
  24. pop — to visit

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