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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. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  3. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  4. The King held a masked ________________.
  5. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  6. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  9. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  10. Have you found your soul ________________?
  11. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  12. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  13. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  14. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  15. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  16. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  17. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  18. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  19. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  20. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  21. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  22. The ________________ took off on time.
  23. There's no middle ________________.
  24. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. calf — a young animal
  3. prune — to trim
  4. ball — a dance
  5. prune — to trim
  6. prune — the fruit
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. ground — crushed
  9. plane — in geometry
  10. mate — a partner
  11. calf — of the leg
  12. mate — a friend
  13. mate — to breed
  14. chest — a box
  15. plane — a tool
  16. chest — of your body
  17. calf — a young animal
  18. chest — of your body
  19. ground — the earth
  20. capital — money
  21. ball — a round shape
  22. plane — an aircraft
  23. ground — a position
  24. ball — a great time

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