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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 second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  2. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  3. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  6. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  7. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  8. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  9. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  10. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  11. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  12. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  13. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  14. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  15. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  16. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  17. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  18. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  19. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  20. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  21. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  22. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  23. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  24. A ________________ is just a dried plum.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — money
  2. racket — a loud noise
  3. racket — for tennis
  4. capital — a city
  5. lean — thin
  6. racket — for tennis
  7. drill — a practice
  8. spring — a coil
  9. prune — to trim
  10. straw — a straw man
  11. capital — a big letter
  12. prune — to trim
  13. straw — to clutch at straws
  14. trunk — of an elephant
  15. trunk — of a car
  16. lean — to rest against
  17. lean — to bend
  18. trunk — of a tree
  19. straw — dry grass
  20. drill — army training
  21. drill — the tool
  22. spring — the season
  23. spring — of water
  24. prune — the fruit

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