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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. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  4. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  5. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  6. The light ________________ burned out.
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  9. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  10. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  11. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  12. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  13. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  14. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  15. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  16. I've got to change the light ________________.
  17. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  18. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  19. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  20. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  21. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  22. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  23. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  24. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. capital — a city
  3. wound — an injury
  4. bass — the fish
  5. bulb — of a plant
  6. bulb — for light
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. row — a quarrel
  9. wound — an injury
  10. row — a line
  11. wound — past of 'wind'
  12. prune — to trim
  13. prune — to trim
  14. row — to paddle
  15. prune — the fruit
  16. bulb — for light
  17. ruler — for measuring
  18. bass — the instrument
  19. ruler — for measuring
  20. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  21. kid — child
  22. capital — money
  23. ruler — a monarch
  24. bass — low 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