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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 didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  2. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  5. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  6. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  7. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  8. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  9. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  10. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  11. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  12. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  13. The ball is in your ________________.
  14. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  15. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  16. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  17. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  18. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  19. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  20. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  21. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  22. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — to stop sleeping
  2. prune — to trim
  3. capital — a city
  4. capital — money
  5. bat — the animal
  6. bank — for money
  7. prune — to trim
  8. wake — a trail
  9. court — of law
  10. bat — for baseball
  11. racket — for tennis
  12. bank — of a river
  13. court — for sport
  14. court — of a king
  15. wake — before a funeral
  16. prune — the fruit
  17. capital — a big letter
  18. racket — for tennis
  19. racket — a loud noise
  20. squash — the sport
  21. squash — the vegetable
  22. squash — to crush
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. bank — for money

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