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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 cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  2. That was a fun ________________.
  3. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  6. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  7. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  8. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  9. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  10. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  11. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  12. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  13. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  14. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  15. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  16. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  17. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  18. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  19. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  20. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  21. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  22. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  23. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  24. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. game — a match
  3. straw — a straw man
  4. capital — a city
  5. dip — a sauce
  6. pound — for dogs
  7. rule — to rule out
  8. prune — to trim
  9. straw — dry grass
  10. straw — to clutch at straws
  11. content — videos and posts
  12. dip — to sink
  13. pound — a weight
  14. dip — to dunk
  15. pound — to hit hard
  16. capital — money
  17. game — wild animals
  18. rule — government
  19. prune — the fruit
  20. content — happy
  21. rule — a law
  22. content — the amount
  23. capital — a big letter
  24. game — a kind of play

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