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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. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  2. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  3. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  4. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  5. You don't need to ________________ round.
  6. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  7. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  8. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  9. We're almost out of ________________.
  10. The ball is in your ________________.
  11. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  12. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  13. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  14. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  15. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  16. David sat on the ________________.
  17. That was ________________ to happen.
  18. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  19. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  20. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  21. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  22. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  23. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  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. prune — to trim
  2. present — a gift
  3. court — of a king
  4. bound — tied together
  5. pop — to visit
  6. present — the time now
  7. court — of law
  8. trunk — of a tree
  9. pop — soda
  10. court — for sport
  11. trunk — of an elephant
  12. swing — in golf
  13. capital — a big letter
  14. trunk — of a car
  15. prune — to trim
  16. swing — to play on
  17. bound — certain
  18. present — there
  19. swing — music
  20. capital — money
  21. pop — music
  22. bound — obliged
  23. capital — a city
  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