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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. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  2. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  3. That was ________________ to happen.
  4. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  5. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  6. She's very handy with a ________________.
  7. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  8. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  9. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  10. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  11. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  12. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  13. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  14. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  15. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  16. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  17. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  18. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  19. He works in a ________________ mill.
  20. He is an ace ________________.
  21. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  22. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  23. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  24. The King held a masked ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. wind — moving air
  3. bound — certain
  4. bound — tied together
  5. prune — to trim
  6. saw — the tool
  7. wind — to turn a key
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. ball — a round shape
  10. capital — a city
  11. present — there
  12. bound — obliged
  13. capital — a big letter
  14. saw — past of 'see'
  15. capital — money
  16. present — a gift
  17. prune — the fruit
  18. wind — moving air
  19. saw — the tool
  20. pitcher — in baseball
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. ball — a great time
  23. present — the time now
  24. ball — a dance

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