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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. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  4. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  5. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  6. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  7. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  8. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  9. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  10. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  11. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  12. False peace will not ________________.
  13. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  14. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  15. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  16. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  17. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  18. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  19. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  20. I'll be taking the ________________.
  21. That was ________________ to happen.
  22. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  23. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  24. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!

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

Answer key

  1. hand — help
  2. capital — a city
  3. tube — in a tire
  4. tube — a container
  5. wound — an injury
  6. capital — a big letter
  7. perch — for a bird
  8. prune — to trim
  9. wound — past of 'wind'
  10. prune — to trim
  11. bound — tied together
  12. last — to go on
  13. bound — obliged
  14. last — finally
  15. prune — the fruit
  16. hand — in cards
  17. capital — money
  18. wound — an injury
  19. perch — the fish
  20. tube — the underground
  21. bound — certain
  22. hand — part of the body
  23. perch — for a bird
  24. last — final

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