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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. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  3. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  4. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  5. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  6. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  7. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  8. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  9. I'll be taking the ________________.
  10. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  11. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  12. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  13. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  14. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  15. When are we going to ________________?
  16. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  17. How do you ________________ your surname?
  18. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  19. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  20. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  21. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  22. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  23. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  24. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. land — a country
  3. prune — to trim
  4. spell — magic
  5. perch — the fish
  6. capital — a big letter
  7. capital — money
  8. chair — a leader
  9. tube — the underground
  10. land — ground
  11. perch — for a bird
  12. tube — a container
  13. chair — to sit on
  14. scale — for weighing
  15. land — to come down
  16. prune — the fruit
  17. spell — letters
  18. scale — size or range
  19. tube — in a tire
  20. perch — for a bird
  21. prune — to trim
  22. spell — a short time
  23. scale — in music
  24. chair — a professorship

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