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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 124 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. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  2. It's one o'clock ________________.
  3. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  6. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  7. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  8. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  9. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  10. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  11. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  12. Have you settled on a ________________?
  13. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  14. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  17. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  18. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  19. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  20. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  23. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  24. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a big letter
  2. sharp — exactly
  3. cue — a signal
  4. clip — for paper
  5. sharp — with an edge
  6. perch — the fish
  7. capital — a city
  8. date — on the calendar
  9. sharp — clever
  10. perch — for a bird
  11. prune — to trim
  12. date — on the calendar
  13. stick — a piece of wood
  14. cue — a hint
  15. clip — a video
  16. stick — a piece of wood
  17. prune — the fruit
  18. prune — to trim
  19. cue — for pool
  20. capital — money
  21. clip — to cut
  22. stick — to attach or keep to
  23. date — the fruit
  24. perch — for a bird

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