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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. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. The light ________________ burned out.
  6. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  7. I've got to change the light ________________.
  8. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  9. I'll be taking the ________________.
  10. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  11. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  12. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  15. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  16. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  17. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  18. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  19. He is an ace ________________.
  20. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  21. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  22. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  23. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  24. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — the fruit
  2. degree — an amount
  3. capital — a big letter
  4. degree — from a university
  5. bulb — for light
  6. wax — in the ear
  7. bulb — for light
  8. capital — money
  9. tube — the underground
  10. prune — to trim
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. wax — for sculpting
  13. degree — temperature
  14. prune — to trim
  15. bulb — of a plant
  16. capital — a city
  17. wax — to grow
  18. chip — to eat
  19. pitcher — in baseball
  20. tube — in a tire
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. chip — in a computer
  23. chip — for betting
  24. tube — a container

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