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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. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  2. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  3. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  4. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  5. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  6. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  9. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  10. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  11. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  12. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  13. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  14. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  15. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  16. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  17. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  18. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  19. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  20. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  21. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  22. We're almost out of ________________.
  23. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  24. You don't need to ________________ round.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — for digging
  2. rock — to move gently
  3. rock — a stone
  4. pop — music
  5. prune — to trim
  6. rock — music
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. scale — size or range
  9. prune — to trim
  10. capital — a city
  11. branch — of a tree
  12. scale — in music
  13. scale — for weighing
  14. branch — of a bank
  15. mine — belonging to me
  16. straw — a straw man
  17. capital — money
  18. prune — the fruit
  19. mine — an explosive
  20. straw — to clutch at straws
  21. straw — dry grass
  22. pop — soda
  23. branch — a division
  24. pop — to visit

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