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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 not ________________ roses in the fall.
  2. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  3. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  4. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  5. David sat on the ________________.
  6. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  7. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  8. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  9. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  10. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  11. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  12. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  13. The ________________ market has crashed.
  14. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  15. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  16. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  17. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  18. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  19. What do you think of the new ________________?
  20. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  21. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  22. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  23. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  24. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. kick — in football
  3. perch — for a bird
  4. kick — with a leg
  5. swing — to play on
  6. pitch — a sales talk
  7. capital — a city
  8. cabinet — a cupboard
  9. capital — a big letter
  10. stock — goods
  11. prune — the fruit
  12. perch — the fish
  13. stock — shares
  14. capital — money
  15. perch — for a bird
  16. pitch — completely
  17. pitch — a sports field
  18. stock — a soup base
  19. cabinet — ministers
  20. swing — in golf
  21. prune — to trim
  22. swing — music
  23. kick — a thrill
  24. cabinet — ministers

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