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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. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  2. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  5. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  6. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  7. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  8. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  9. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  10. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  11. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  12. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  13. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  14. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  15. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  16. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  17. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  18. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  19. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  20. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  21. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  22. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  23. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  24. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — money
  2. perch — for a bird
  3. capital — a city
  4. spring — of water
  5. fork — a garden tool
  6. prune — the fruit
  7. fork — to eat with
  8. shower — a meteor shower
  9. capital — a big letter
  10. perch — for a bird
  11. prune — to trim
  12. pit — a hole
  13. spring — the season
  14. row — a quarrel
  15. perch — the fish
  16. fork — in a road
  17. shower — rain
  18. pit — in a race
  19. row — a line
  20. pit — a fruit stone
  21. row — to paddle
  22. spring — a coil
  23. shower — to wash
  24. prune — to trim

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