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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.

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: bore · mine · prune · perch · cue · root · fan · capital

  1. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  3. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  4. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  5. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  6. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  7. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  8. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  9. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  10. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  11. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  12. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  13. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  14. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  15. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  16. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  17. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  18. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  19. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  20. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  21. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  22. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  23. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  24. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. fan — a supporter
  3. mine — for digging
  4. prune — to trim
  5. cue — a signal
  6. bore — to drill
  7. perch — the fish
  8. mine — an explosive
  9. bore — gave birth
  10. cue — a hint
  11. cue — for pool
  12. root — of a plant
  13. fan — to cool the air
  14. root — of a word
  15. perch — for a bird
  16. prune — the fruit
  17. bore — to tire
  18. prune — to trim
  19. root — the cause
  20. capital — a big letter
  21. fan — a supporter
  22. perch — for a bird
  23. mine — belonging to me
  24. capital — money

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