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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. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  2. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  3. How do you ________________ your surname?
  4. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  5. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  6. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  7. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  8. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  9. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  10. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  11. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  12. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  13. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  14. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  15. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  16. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  17. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  18. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  19. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  20. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  21. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  22. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  23. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  24. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.

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

Answer key

  1. board — to get on
  2. perch — for a bird
  3. spell — letters
  4. prune — to trim
  5. board — a committee
  6. racket — for tennis
  7. board — a flat piece
  8. racket — a loud noise
  9. kid — to tease
  10. capital — a city
  11. perch — the fish
  12. squash — the sport
  13. squash — to crush
  14. racket — for tennis
  15. prune — the fruit
  16. prune — to trim
  17. squash — the vegetable
  18. capital — a big letter
  19. spell — magic
  20. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  21. capital — money
  22. kid — child
  23. perch — for a bird
  24. spell — a short time

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