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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. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  2. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  3. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  4. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  5. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  6. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  7. Did you ________________ the meat?
  8. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  9. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  10. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  11. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  12. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  13. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  14. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  15. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  16. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  17. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  18. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  19. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  20. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  21. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  22. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  23. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  24. He took the fish out of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fine — a penalty
  2. content — videos and posts
  3. prune — to trim
  4. fine — all right
  5. net — after costs
  6. straw — dry grass
  7. season — to add flavour
  8. prune — the fruit
  9. wake — before a funeral
  10. fine — high quality
  11. net — in sport
  12. content — the amount
  13. prune — to trim
  14. capital — a big letter
  15. capital — a city
  16. season — of the year
  17. straw — a straw man
  18. capital — money
  19. season — in sport
  20. wake — to stop sleeping
  21. wake — a trail
  22. straw — to clutch at straws
  23. content — happy
  24. net — for catching

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