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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. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  2. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  3. He works in a ________________ mill.
  4. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  5. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  6. David sat on the ________________.
  7. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  8. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  9. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  10. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  11. She's very handy with a ________________.
  12. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  13. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  14. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  15. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  16. There's no middle ________________.
  17. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  18. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  19. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  20. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  21. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  22. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  23. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  24. Beijing is the ________________ of China.

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

Answer key

  1. present — a gift
  2. band — a rubber band
  3. saw — the tool
  4. saw — past of 'see'
  5. swing — music
  6. swing — to play on
  7. prune — to trim
  8. swing — in golf
  9. present — the time now
  10. present — there
  11. saw — the tool
  12. ground — the earth
  13. prune — the fruit
  14. prune — to trim
  15. drill — the tool
  16. ground — a position
  17. capital — a big letter
  18. ground — crushed
  19. band — a ring
  20. drill — a practice
  21. capital — money
  22. drill — army training
  23. band — a music group
  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