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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 120 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. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  2. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  3. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  4. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  5. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  6. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  7. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  8. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  9. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  10. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  11. Don't do anything ________________.
  12. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  13. The light ________________ burned out.
  14. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  15. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  16. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  17. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  18. I've got to change the light ________________.
  19. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  20. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  21. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  22. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  23. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  24. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. present — there
  3. present — a gift
  4. scale — size or range
  5. bore — to drill
  6. present — the time now
  7. capital — money
  8. bulb — of a plant
  9. bore — to tire
  10. bore — gave birth
  11. rash — hasty
  12. prune — the fruit
  13. bulb — for light
  14. scale — for weighing
  15. bat — for baseball
  16. bat — the animal
  17. rash — on the skin
  18. bulb — for light
  19. bat — in an idiom
  20. prune — to trim
  21. rash — a series
  22. capital — a city
  23. capital — a big letter
  24. scale — in music

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