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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 ball is in your ________________.
  2. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  3. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  4. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  5. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  6. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  7. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  8. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  9. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  10. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  11. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  12. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  13. Did you ________________ the meat?
  14. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  15. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  16. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  17. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  18. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  19. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  20. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  21. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  22. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  23. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  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. court — for sport
  2. capital — money
  3. pitch — a sports field
  4. season — of the year
  5. present — there
  6. present — the time now
  7. prune — to trim
  8. perch — for a bird
  9. court — of law
  10. scale — size or range
  11. prune — the fruit
  12. season — in sport
  13. season — to add flavour
  14. capital — a big letter
  15. perch — the fish
  16. present — a gift
  17. perch — for a bird
  18. pitch — a sales talk
  19. court — of a king
  20. scale — in music
  21. capital — a city
  22. scale — for weighing
  23. pitch — completely
  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