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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 116 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. That was ________________ to happen.
  3. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  4. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  5. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  6. That was a fun ________________.
  7. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  8. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  9. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  10. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  11. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  12. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  13. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  14. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  15. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  16. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  17. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  18. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  19. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  20. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  21. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  22. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  23. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  24. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. bound — certain
  3. bound — tied together
  4. bowl — a dish
  5. object — an aim
  6. game — a match
  7. wax — in the ear
  8. bowl — a football final
  9. bowl — to roll
  10. capital — a city
  11. file — a tool
  12. game — wild animals
  13. prune — the fruit
  14. bound — obliged
  15. capital — a big letter
  16. object — to protest
  17. game — a kind of play
  18. object — a thing
  19. prune — to trim
  20. file — a document
  21. capital — money
  22. wax — for sculpting
  23. wax — to grow
  24. file — a line of people

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