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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. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  2. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  3. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  6. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  7. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  8. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  11. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  12. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  13. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  14. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  15. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  16. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  19. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  20. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  21. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  22. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  23. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  24. I don't want to ________________ the boat.

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

Answer key

  1. toast — bread
  2. capital — money
  3. prune — to trim
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. toast — a drink to someone
  6. capital — a city
  7. prune — the fruit
  8. vault — a safe
  9. cold — an illness
  10. vault — in gymnastics
  11. hand — in cards
  12. rock — music
  13. toast — the most admired
  14. ruler — for measuring
  15. capital — a big letter
  16. ruler — for measuring
  17. cold — not warm
  18. ruler — a monarch
  19. vault — an arched ceiling
  20. prune — to trim
  21. hand — part of the body
  22. rock — a stone
  23. hand — help
  24. rock — to move gently

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