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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. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  2. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  3. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  6. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  7. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  8. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  9. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  10. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  11. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  12. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  13. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  14. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  15. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  16. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  17. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  18. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  19. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  20. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  21. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  22. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  23. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  24. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. prune — to trim
  3. track — a path
  4. capital — a city
  5. capital — money
  6. calf — a young animal
  7. content — the amount
  8. wake — a trail
  9. root — of a word
  10. calf — of the leg
  11. wake — before a funeral
  12. fork — a garden tool
  13. prune — the fruit
  14. fork — in a road
  15. fork — to eat with
  16. wake — to stop sleeping
  17. track — to keep track
  18. track — a song
  19. content — happy
  20. root — of a plant
  21. capital — a big letter
  22. content — videos and posts
  23. calf — a young animal
  24. root — the cause

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