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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. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  2. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  5. He was locked up in a ________________.
  6. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  7. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  8. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  9. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  10. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  11. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  12. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  13. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  14. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  15. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  16. The ball is in your ________________.
  17. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  18. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  19. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  20. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  21. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  22. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  23. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  24. Did you ________________ the meat?

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

Answer key

  1. capital — money
  2. prune — the fruit
  3. field — farmland
  4. capital — a big letter
  5. cell — in a prison
  6. prune — to trim
  7. wax — in the ear
  8. court — of law
  9. season — of the year
  10. wax — for sculpting
  11. field — for sport
  12. cell — in biology
  13. season — in sport
  14. bass — low music
  15. bass — the instrument
  16. court — for sport
  17. cell — a phone
  18. capital — a city
  19. bass — the fish
  20. wax — to grow
  21. court — of a king
  22. prune — to trim
  23. field — a subject
  24. season — to add flavour

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