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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. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  2. How do you ________________ your surname?
  3. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  4. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  5. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  6. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  7. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  8. We're almost out of ________________.
  9. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  10. That was ________________ to happen.
  11. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  12. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  13. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  14. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  15. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  16. There's no middle ________________.
  17. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  18. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  19. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  20. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  21. You don't need to ________________ round.
  22. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  23. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  24. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cue — a hint
  2. spell — letters
  3. capital — a big letter
  4. ground — crushed
  5. capital — money
  6. perch — for a bird
  7. spell — a short time
  8. pop — soda
  9. bound — obliged
  10. bound — certain
  11. bound — tied together
  12. cue — a signal
  13. pop — music
  14. capital — a city
  15. cue — for pool
  16. ground — a position
  17. stem — a stem cell
  18. perch — for a bird
  19. ground — the earth
  20. perch — the fish
  21. pop — to visit
  22. spell — magic
  23. stem — to come from
  24. stem — of a plant

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