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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've got the luggage in my ________________.
  2. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  3. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  4. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  5. The tickets are free of ________________.
  6. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  7. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  8. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  9. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  10. There's no middle ________________.
  11. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  12. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  13. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  14. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  15. That was ________________ to happen.
  16. You don't need to ________________ round.
  17. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  18. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  19. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  20. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  21. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  22. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  23. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  24. We're almost out of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of a car
  2. capital — money
  3. capital — a big letter
  4. spring — the season
  5. charge — a price
  6. charge — electricity
  7. pop — music
  8. trunk — of an elephant
  9. bound — tied together
  10. ground — a position
  11. spring — a coil
  12. prune — to trim
  13. trunk — of a tree
  14. ground — crushed
  15. bound — certain
  16. pop — to visit
  17. ground — the earth
  18. prune — to trim
  19. bound — obliged
  20. prune — the fruit
  21. charge — in control
  22. capital — a city
  23. spring — of water
  24. pop — soda

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