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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. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  2. False peace will not ________________.
  3. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  6. We're almost out of ________________.
  7. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  8. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  9. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  10. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  11. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  12. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  13. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  14. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  15. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  16. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  17. You don't need to ________________ round.
  18. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  19. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  20. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  21. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  22. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  23. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  24. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — money
  2. last — to go on
  3. craft — a skill
  4. capital — a city
  5. wax — in the ear
  6. pop — soda
  7. pop — music
  8. branch — a division
  9. craft — a handicraft
  10. stem — of a plant
  11. prune — to trim
  12. last — final
  13. branch — of a tree
  14. wax — for sculpting
  15. last — finally
  16. stem — a stem cell
  17. pop — to visit
  18. stem — to come from
  19. craft — boats
  20. prune — the fruit
  21. branch — of a bank
  22. wax — to grow
  23. prune — to trim
  24. capital — a big letter

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