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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.

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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: capital · bowl · ball · wind · prune · firm · mark · field

  1. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  2. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  3. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  4. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  5. The King held a masked ________________.
  6. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  7. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  8. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  9. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  10. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  11. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  12. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  13. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  14. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  15. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  16. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  17. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  18. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  19. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  20. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  21. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  22. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  23. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  24. The kitten curled into a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mark — to pay attention
  2. prune — to trim
  3. wind — moving air
  4. prune — to trim
  5. ball — a dance
  6. firm — decided
  7. wind — moving air
  8. wind — to turn a key
  9. mark — a grade
  10. field — a subject
  11. capital — a city
  12. ball — a great time
  13. prune — the fruit
  14. capital — a big letter
  15. mark — a trace
  16. bowl — a dish
  17. field — for sport
  18. bowl — to roll
  19. bowl — a football final
  20. firm — a company
  21. firm — steady
  22. field — farmland
  23. capital — money
  24. ball — a round shape

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