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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. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  2. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  3. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  4. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  5. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  6. You don't need to ________________ round.
  7. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  8. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  9. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  10. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  11. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  12. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  13. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  14. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  15. We're almost out of ________________.
  16. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  17. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  18. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  19. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  20. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  21. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  22. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  23. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  24. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. chair — a leader
  3. perch — for a bird
  4. chair — to sit on
  5. capital — a big letter
  6. pop — to visit
  7. pop — music
  8. band — a music group
  9. chair — a professorship
  10. band — a ring
  11. perch — for a bird
  12. prune — to trim
  13. capital — money
  14. wound — past of 'wind'
  15. pop — soda
  16. wound — an injury
  17. wake — a trail
  18. wake — before a funeral
  19. prune — the fruit
  20. band — a rubber band
  21. wound — an injury
  22. perch — the fish
  23. capital — a city
  24. wake — to stop sleeping

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