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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. The water is too ________________.
  2. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  7. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  8. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  9. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  10. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  11. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  12. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  13. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  14. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  15. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  16. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  17. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  18. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  19. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  20. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  21. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  24. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. perch — the fish
  3. capital — a city
  4. pitch — a sports field
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. capital — money
  7. root — of a word
  8. prune — to trim
  9. prune — the fruit
  10. fine — all right
  11. prune — to trim
  12. mouse — the animal
  13. root — of a plant
  14. root — the cause
  15. capital — a big letter
  16. fine — a penalty
  17. perch — for a bird
  18. mouse — for a computer
  19. fine — high quality
  20. mouse — the animal
  21. pitch — a sales talk
  22. cold — an illness
  23. perch — for a bird
  24. pitch — completely

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