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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. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  2. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  3. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  4. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  5. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  6. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  7. He is an ace ________________.
  8. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  9. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  10. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  11. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  12. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  13. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  14. Did you ________________ the button?
  15. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  16. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  17. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  18. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  19. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  20. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  21. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  22. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  23. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  24. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. prune — to trim
  3. fan — to cool the air
  4. race — humankind
  5. capital — a city
  6. press — a publisher
  7. pitcher — in baseball
  8. fan — a supporter
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. fan — a supporter
  11. mine — for digging
  12. capital — money
  13. race — a contest
  14. press — to push
  15. mine — belonging to me
  16. bear — to put up with
  17. bear — the animal
  18. prune — to trim
  19. bear — the animal
  20. press — newspapers
  21. prune — the fruit
  22. mine — an explosive
  23. race — the arms race
  24. capital — a big letter

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