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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 from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: tear · prune · capital · craft · toast · racket

  1. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  2. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  3. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  4. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  5. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  6. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  9. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  10. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  11. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  12. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  13. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  14. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  15. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  16. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  17. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  18. Beijing is the ________________ of China.

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

Answer key

  1. toast — a drink to someone
  2. racket — a loud noise
  3. prune — to trim
  4. prune — to trim
  5. prune — the fruit
  6. toast — bread
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. tear — from crying
  9. toast — the most admired
  10. capital — money
  11. craft — a skill
  12. craft — boats
  13. racket — for tennis
  14. craft — a handicraft
  15. tear — to rip
  16. tear — from crying
  17. racket — for tennis
  18. capital — a city

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