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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. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  3. False peace will not ________________.
  4. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  5. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  6. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  7. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  8. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  9. There's no middle ________________.
  10. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  11. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  12. Have you met the new head ________________?
  13. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  14. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  15. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  16. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  17. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  18. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  19. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  20. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  21. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  22. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  23. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  24. At ________________, we arrived at the village.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. capital — a big letter
  3. last — to go on
  4. prune — to trim
  5. kid — child
  6. prune — to trim
  7. prune — the fruit
  8. present — the time now
  9. ground — a position
  10. coach — pulled by horses
  11. ground — crushed
  12. coach — a trainer
  13. last — final
  14. coach — a trainer
  15. rock — a stone
  16. capital — money
  17. present — there
  18. present — a gift
  19. ground — the earth
  20. capital — a city
  21. rock — to move gently
  22. rock — music
  23. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  24. last — finally

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