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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. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  3. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  4. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  5. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  6. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  7. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  8. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  9. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  10. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  11. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  12. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  13. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  14. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  15. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  16. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  17. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  18. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  19. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  20. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  21. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  22. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  23. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  24. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. bat — in an idiom
  3. fine — a penalty
  4. prune — the fruit
  5. spring — the season
  6. bat — the animal
  7. trunk — of a car
  8. capital — money
  9. track — to keep track
  10. track — a song
  11. march — the month
  12. trunk — of an elephant
  13. prune — to trim
  14. spring — of water
  15. spring — a coil
  16. fine — all right
  17. fine — high quality
  18. trunk — of a tree
  19. capital — a big letter
  20. bat — for baseball
  21. prune — to trim
  22. march — music
  23. march — the month
  24. track — a path

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