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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 124 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. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  2. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  3. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  4. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  5. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  6. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  7. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  8. The ________________ market has crashed.
  9. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  10. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  11. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  12. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  13. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  14. Did you ________________ the meat?
  15. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  16. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  17. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  18. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  19. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  20. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  21. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  22. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  23. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  24. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. capital — money
  3. track — a path
  4. toast — a drink to someone
  5. season — of the year
  6. prune — to trim
  7. prune — the fruit
  8. stock — shares
  9. stock — goods
  10. trunk — of a car
  11. track — to keep track
  12. toast — bread
  13. season — in sport
  14. season — to add flavour
  15. track — a song
  16. stock — a soup base
  17. wind — moving air
  18. capital — a big letter
  19. prune — to trim
  20. wind — to turn a key
  21. trunk — of an elephant
  22. trunk — of a tree
  23. capital — a city
  24. toast — the most admired

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