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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. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  2. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  3. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  4. How do you ________________ your surname?
  5. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  6. That was ________________ to happen.
  7. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  8. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  9. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  10. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  11. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  12. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  13. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  14. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  15. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  16. That was a fun ________________.
  17. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  18. The ________________ took off on time.
  19. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  20. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  21. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  22. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  23. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  24. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. march — music
  3. bound — tied together
  4. spell — letters
  5. plane — a tool
  6. bound — certain
  7. spell — a short time
  8. perch — for a bird
  9. capital — a big letter
  10. plane — in geometry
  11. march — the month
  12. game — a kind of play
  13. game — wild animals
  14. capital — money
  15. prune — the fruit
  16. game — a match
  17. perch — the fish
  18. plane — an aircraft
  19. prune — to trim
  20. bound — obliged
  21. spell — magic
  22. perch — for a bird
  23. capital — a city
  24. march — the month

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