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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 120 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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: file · tube · capital · press · bark · stick · last · prune

  1. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  2. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  4. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  5. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  6. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  7. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  8. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  9. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  10. I'll be taking the ________________.
  11. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  12. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  13. Did you ________________ the button?
  14. False peace will not ________________.
  15. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  16. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  17. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  18. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  19. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  20. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  21. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  22. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  23. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  24. At ________________, we arrived at the village.

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

Answer key

  1. stick — a piece of wood
  2. capital — a city
  3. prune — to trim
  4. file — a tool
  5. stick — to attach or keep to
  6. press — a publisher
  7. bark — to shout
  8. capital — a big letter
  9. tube — in a tire
  10. tube — the underground
  11. bark — of a tree
  12. prune — the fruit
  13. press — to push
  14. last — to go on
  15. file — a document
  16. tube — a container
  17. stick — a piece of wood
  18. last — final
  19. capital — money
  20. prune — to trim
  21. press — newspapers
  22. file — a line of people
  23. bark — a dog's sound
  24. last — finally

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