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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. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  2. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  3. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  4. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  5. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  6. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  7. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  8. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  9. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  10. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  11. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  12. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  13. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  14. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  15. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  16. There's no middle ________________.
  17. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  18. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  19. That must've been a ________________.
  20. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  21. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  22. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  23. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  24. Beijing is the ________________ of China.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — the fish
  2. branch — a division
  3. prune — to trim
  4. capital — a big letter
  5. prune — to trim
  6. perch — for a bird
  7. cap — of ice
  8. branch — of a bank
  9. hand — part of the body
  10. capital — money
  11. hand — help
  12. branch — of a tree
  13. cap — a hat
  14. hand — in cards
  15. cap — a lid
  16. ground — a position
  17. ground — crushed
  18. prune — the fruit
  19. rush — a thrill
  20. rush — hurry
  21. ground — the earth
  22. perch — for a bird
  23. rush — to hurry
  24. capital — a city

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