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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 116 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. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  2. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  3. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  4. How do you ________________ your surname?
  5. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  6. He is an ace ________________.
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  9. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  10. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  11. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  12. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  13. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  14. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  15. The light ________________ burned out.
  16. He works in a ________________ mill.
  17. She's very handy with a ________________.
  18. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  19. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  20. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  21. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  22. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  23. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  24. I've got to change the light ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. racket — for tennis
  2. prune — to trim
  3. bowl — to roll
  4. spell — letters
  5. capital — money
  6. pitcher — in baseball
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. racket — a loud noise
  9. spell — a short time
  10. prune — to trim
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. bowl — a football final
  13. pitcher — a jug
  14. saw — past of 'see'
  15. bulb — for light
  16. saw — the tool
  17. saw — the tool
  18. bulb — of a plant
  19. racket — for tennis
  20. capital — a city
  21. spell — magic
  22. bowl — a dish
  23. prune — the fruit
  24. bulb — for light

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