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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 120 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. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  2. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  3. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  4. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  5. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  6. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  7. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  8. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  9. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  10. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  11. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  12. He was locked up in a ________________.
  13. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  14. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  15. There's no middle ________________.
  16. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  17. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  18. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  19. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  20. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  21. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  22. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  23. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  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. capital — money
  2. capital — a big letter
  3. prune — the fruit
  4. shower — to wash
  5. cell — a phone
  6. net — in sport
  7. pit — in a race
  8. capital — a city
  9. ground — crushed
  10. net — after costs
  11. cell — in biology
  12. cell — in a prison
  13. prune — to trim
  14. shower — a meteor shower
  15. ground — a position
  16. shower — rain
  17. ground — the earth
  18. pit — a fruit stone
  19. deal — an agreement
  20. deal — a big deal
  21. deal — to handle
  22. prune — to trim
  23. pit — a hole
  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