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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 office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  2. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  3. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  4. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  5. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  6. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  7. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  8. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  9. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  10. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  11. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  12. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  13. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  14. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  15. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  16. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  17. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  18. There's no middle ________________.
  19. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  20. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  21. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  22. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  23. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  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. staff — employees
  2. march — music
  3. prune — to trim
  4. racket — for tennis
  5. ground — crushed
  6. staff — a stick
  7. racket — for tennis
  8. cap — a lid
  9. capital — a big letter
  10. cap — a hat
  11. spring — the season
  12. spring — of water
  13. ground — the earth
  14. capital — a city
  15. march — the month
  16. staff — employees
  17. prune — the fruit
  18. ground — a position
  19. march — the month
  20. capital — money
  21. racket — a loud noise
  22. spring — a coil
  23. cap — of ice
  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