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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. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  2. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  3. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  4. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  5. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  6. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  7. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  10. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  11. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  12. The ________________ took off on time.
  13. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  14. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  15. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  16. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  17. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  18. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  19. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  20. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  21. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  22. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  23. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  24. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — past of 'wind'
  2. present — a gift
  3. capital — a big letter
  4. wound — an injury
  5. plane — in geometry
  6. prune — the fruit
  7. plane — a tool
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. bat — for baseball
  10. capital — money
  11. row — a quarrel
  12. plane — an aircraft
  13. row — to paddle
  14. row — a line
  15. prune — to trim
  16. capital — a city
  17. mine — belonging to me
  18. mine — for digging
  19. present — the time now
  20. mine — an explosive
  21. wound — an injury
  22. prune — to trim
  23. present — there
  24. bat — the animal

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