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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. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  2. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  3. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  4. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  5. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  6. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  9. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  10. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  11. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  12. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  13. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  14. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  15. That was a fun ________________.
  16. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  17. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  18. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  19. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  20. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  21. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  22. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  23. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  24. We have nothing to ________________ here.

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

Answer key

  1. bear — to put up with
  2. capital — money
  3. prune — to trim
  4. fork — a garden tool
  5. prune — to trim
  6. capital — a big letter
  7. bat — the animal
  8. bear — the animal
  9. fork — in a road
  10. fork — to eat with
  11. bear — the animal
  12. hide — to keep secret
  13. bat — for baseball
  14. squash — the sport
  15. game — a match
  16. game — a kind of play
  17. game — wild animals
  18. squash — to crush
  19. bat — in an idiom
  20. prune — the fruit
  21. capital — a city
  22. squash — the vegetable
  23. hide — animal skin
  24. hide — to keep secret

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