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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. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. You don't need to ________________ round.
  3. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  4. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  5. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  6. What do you think of the new ________________?
  7. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  8. There's no middle ________________.
  9. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  10. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  11. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  12. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  13. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  14. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  15. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  16. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  17. We're almost out of ________________.
  18. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  19. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  20. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  21. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  22. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  23. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  24. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. pop — to visit
  3. fine — a penalty
  4. perch — for a bird
  5. capital — money
  6. cabinet — ministers
  7. fine — all right
  8. ground — a position
  9. prune — the fruit
  10. pop — music
  11. cabinet — a cupboard
  12. ground — crushed
  13. fine — high quality
  14. stem — of a plant
  15. prune — to trim
  16. stem — to come from
  17. pop — soda
  18. perch — the fish
  19. cabinet — ministers
  20. stem — a stem cell
  21. capital — a big letter
  22. prune — to trim
  23. perch — for a bird
  24. ground — the earth

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