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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: cell · bass · jam · kid · capital · bay · row · prune

  1. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  3. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  4. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  5. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  6. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  7. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  8. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  9. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  10. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  11. My mare is ________________ in color.
  12. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  13. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  14. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  15. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  16. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  17. He was locked up in a ________________.
  18. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  19. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  20. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  21. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  22. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  23. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  24. A ________________ is just a dried plum.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. capital — a big letter
  3. jam — to spread on bread
  4. cell — in biology
  5. capital — a city
  6. prune — to trim
  7. prune — to trim
  8. bay — a part of the sea
  9. bay — to keep at bay
  10. row — to paddle
  11. bay — a horse colour
  12. bass — the fish
  13. bass — the instrument
  14. bass — low music
  15. capital — money
  16. row — a quarrel
  17. cell — in a prison
  18. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  19. row — a line
  20. jam — a tight spot
  21. kid — child
  22. jam — in traffic
  23. cell — a phone
  24. prune — the fruit

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