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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. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  2. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  3. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  4. I'll be taking the ________________.
  5. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  6. You don't need to ________________ round.
  7. David sat on the ________________.
  8. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  9. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  10. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  11. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  12. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  13. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  14. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  15. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  16. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  17. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  18. When was this ________________ built?
  19. We're almost out of ________________.
  20. Have you found your soul ________________?
  21. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  22. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  23. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  24. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — the fruit
  2. temple — a place of worship
  3. shower — rain
  4. tube — the underground
  5. capital — a city
  6. pop — to visit
  7. swing — to play on
  8. prune — to trim
  9. shower — a meteor shower
  10. swing — in golf
  11. swing — music
  12. mate — a friend
  13. mate — to breed
  14. shower — to wash
  15. prune — to trim
  16. tube — in a tire
  17. tube — a container
  18. temple — a place of worship
  19. pop — soda
  20. mate — a partner
  21. capital — a big letter
  22. temple — side of the head
  23. pop — music
  24. capital — money

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