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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. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  2. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  3. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  4. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  5. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  6. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  7. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  8. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  9. He works in a ________________ mill.
  10. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  11. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  12. We're on a ________________ here.
  13. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  14. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  15. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  16. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  17. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  18. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  19. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  20. She's very handy with a ________________.
  21. There's no middle ________________.
  22. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  23. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  24. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. chest — of your body
  3. roll — a cake
  4. ground — the earth
  5. capital — a city
  6. fan — a supporter
  7. fan — to cool the air
  8. fan — a supporter
  9. saw — the tool
  10. capital — money
  11. ground — crushed
  12. roll — on a roll
  13. chest — of your body
  14. capital — a big letter
  15. prune — to trim
  16. saw — past of 'see'
  17. chest — a box
  18. prune — the fruit
  19. roll — a list
  20. saw — the tool
  21. ground — a position
  22. chip — for betting
  23. chip — in a computer
  24. chip — to eat

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