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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. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  2. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  3. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  6. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  7. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  8. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  9. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  10. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  11. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  12. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  13. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  14. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  15. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  16. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  17. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  18. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  19. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  20. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  21. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  22. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  23. I'll be taking the ________________.
  24. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a football final
  2. prune — to trim
  3. cue — a hint
  4. capital — a city
  5. pitch — a sales talk
  6. scale — size or range
  7. prune — to trim
  8. cue — a signal
  9. chair — a professorship
  10. prune — the fruit
  11. bowl — to roll
  12. tube — in a tire
  13. tube — a container
  14. scale — for weighing
  15. capital — a big letter
  16. pitch — a sports field
  17. chair — to sit on
  18. capital — money
  19. chair — a leader
  20. pitch — completely
  21. bowl — a dish
  22. cue — for pool
  23. tube — the underground
  24. scale — in music

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