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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 haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  2. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  5. Have you settled on a ________________?
  6. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  7. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  8. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  9. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  10. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  11. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  12. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  13. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  14. How do you ________________ your surname?
  15. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  16. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  17. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  18. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  19. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  20. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  21. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  22. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  23. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  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. racket — for tennis
  2. fan — to cool the air
  3. kid — to tease
  4. spell — magic
  5. date — on the calendar
  6. spell — a short time
  7. racket — a loud noise
  8. prune — to trim
  9. fan — a supporter
  10. racket — for tennis
  11. prune — to trim
  12. kid — child
  13. date — the fruit
  14. spell — letters
  15. date — on the calendar
  16. capital — a big letter
  17. race — the arms race
  18. race — a contest
  19. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  20. race — humankind
  21. capital — a city
  22. capital — money
  23. fan — a supporter
  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