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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. False peace will not ________________.
  2. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  4. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  5. My mare is ________________ in color.
  6. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  7. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  8. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  9. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  10. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  11. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  12. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  13. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  14. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  15. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  16. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  17. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  18. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  19. Did you ________________ the meat?
  20. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  21. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  22. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  23. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  24. A ________________ is just a dried plum.

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

Answer key

  1. last — to go on
  2. capital — a city
  3. capital — a big letter
  4. spring — of water
  5. bay — a horse colour
  6. last — finally
  7. track — a song
  8. prune — to trim
  9. season — in sport
  10. spring — the season
  11. last — final
  12. spring — a coil
  13. prune — to trim
  14. track — a path
  15. capital — money
  16. bay — a part of the sea
  17. bay — to keep at bay
  18. perch — for a bird
  19. season — to add flavour
  20. track — to keep track
  21. season — of the year
  22. perch — for a bird
  23. perch — the fish
  24. prune — the fruit

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