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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. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  2. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  3. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  4. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  5. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  6. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  7. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  8. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  9. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  10. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  11. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  12. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  13. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  14. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  15. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  16. Where did you ________________ them?
  17. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  18. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  19. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  20. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  21. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  22. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  23. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  24. We ________________ up on opposing sides.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — an explosive
  2. mine — for digging
  3. prune — the fruit
  4. capital — money
  5. dip — a sauce
  6. mug — a face
  7. hand — part of the body
  8. wound — an injury
  9. hand — in cards
  10. hand — help
  11. march — music
  12. prune — to trim
  13. mug — a cup
  14. wound — an injury
  15. march — the month
  16. mug — to rob
  17. capital — a city
  18. march — the month
  19. dip — to dunk
  20. capital — a big letter
  21. dip — to sink
  22. prune — to trim
  23. mine — belonging to me
  24. wound — past of 'wind'

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