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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. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  2. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  3. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  4. That was a fun ________________.
  5. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  6. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  7. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  8. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  9. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  10. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  11. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  12. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  13. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  14. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  15. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  16. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  17. I'll be taking the ________________.
  18. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  19. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  20. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  21. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  22. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  23. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  24. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — a container
  2. prune — to trim
  3. tear — to rip
  4. game — a match
  5. content — happy
  6. capital — money
  7. tear — from crying
  8. capital — a big letter
  9. capital — a city
  10. tear — from crying
  11. stick — to attach or keep to
  12. content — the amount
  13. branch — of a bank
  14. content — videos and posts
  15. stick — a piece of wood
  16. game — a kind of play
  17. tube — the underground
  18. branch — a division
  19. stick — a piece of wood
  20. tube — in a tire
  21. game — wild animals
  22. branch — of a tree
  23. prune — the fruit
  24. prune — to trim

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