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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. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  2. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  3. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  4. He is an ace ________________.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  7. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  8. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  9. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  10. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  11. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  14. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  15. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  16. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  17. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  18. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  19. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  22. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  23. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  24. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. drill — a practice
  3. pound — to hit hard
  4. pitcher — in baseball
  5. cold — an illness
  6. pitcher — a jug
  7. scale — for weighing
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. pound — a weight
  10. stick — to attach or keep to
  11. scale — size or range
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. scale — in music
  14. capital — a big letter
  15. capital — a city
  16. drill — the tool
  17. capital — money
  18. stick — a piece of wood
  19. pound — for dogs
  20. cold — not warm
  21. drill — army training
  22. prune — to trim
  23. prune — the fruit
  24. stick — a piece of wood

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