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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. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  2. Have you met the new head ________________?
  3. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  4. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  5. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  6. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  7. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  8. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  9. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  10. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  11. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  12. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  13. I'll be taking the ________________.
  14. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  15. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  16. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  17. The ball is in your ________________.
  18. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  19. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  20. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  21. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  22. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  23. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  24. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pit — a fruit stone
  2. coach — a trainer
  3. net — after costs
  4. present — the time now
  5. capital — a big letter
  6. prune — the fruit
  7. court — of law
  8. tube — a container
  9. pit — a hole
  10. coach — pulled by horses
  11. prune — to trim
  12. coach — a trainer
  13. tube — the underground
  14. net — for catching
  15. prune — to trim
  16. court — of a king
  17. court — for sport
  18. capital — a city
  19. pit — in a race
  20. present — a gift
  21. tube — in a tire
  22. present — there
  23. net — in sport
  24. capital — money

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