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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 116 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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Word bank
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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: present · pop · fork · capital · tear · prune

  1. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  2. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  3. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  4. We're almost out of ________________.
  5. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  6. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  7. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  8. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  9. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  10. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  11. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  12. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  13. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  14. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  15. You don't need to ________________ round.
  16. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  17. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  18. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.

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

Answer key

  1. present — a gift
  2. tear — from crying
  3. prune — the fruit
  4. pop — soda
  5. capital — a city
  6. present — there
  7. tear — to rip
  8. present — the time now
  9. fork — to eat with
  10. fork — a garden tool
  11. prune — to trim
  12. capital — a big letter
  13. tear — from crying
  14. fork — in a road
  15. pop — to visit
  16. capital — money
  17. prune — to trim
  18. pop — music

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