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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: prune · capital · perch · pass · chest · race · ground · fall

  1. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  2. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  3. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  4. There's no middle ________________.
  5. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  6. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  7. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  8. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  9. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  10. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  11. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  12. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  13. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  14. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  15. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  16. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  17. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  18. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  19. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  20. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  21. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  22. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  23. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  24. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.

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

Answer key

  1. pass — a permit
  2. chest — of your body
  3. prune — to trim
  4. ground — a position
  5. ground — the earth
  6. capital — a big letter
  7. ground — crushed
  8. perch — the fish
  9. race — humankind
  10. pass — to succeed
  11. chest — a box
  12. chest — of your body
  13. fall — the season
  14. perch — for a bird
  15. prune — the fruit
  16. race — a contest
  17. fall — to drop
  18. perch — for a bird
  19. capital — money
  20. prune — to trim
  21. fall — to drop
  22. race — the arms race
  23. capital — a city
  24. pass — to spend time

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