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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 had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  3. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  4. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  5. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  6. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  7. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  8. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  9. I'll be taking the ________________.
  10. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  11. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  12. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  13. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  14. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  15. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  16. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  17. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  18. My mare is ________________ in color.
  19. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  20. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  21. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  22. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  23. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  24. A ________________ is just a dried plum.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. prune — to trim
  3. tube — in a tire
  4. mine — an explosive
  5. kid — to tease
  6. bay — a part of the sea
  7. capital — a city
  8. craft — a skill
  9. tube — the underground
  10. net — for catching
  11. prune — to trim
  12. craft — a handicraft
  13. mine — for digging
  14. capital — a big letter
  15. capital — money
  16. net — after costs
  17. net — in sport
  18. bay — a horse colour
  19. mine — belonging to me
  20. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  21. tube — a container
  22. bay — to keep at bay
  23. craft — boats
  24. prune — the fruit

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