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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: capital · foot · wind · mark · race · march · cell · prune

  1. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  2. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  3. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  4. He was locked up in a ________________.
  5. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  6. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  7. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  8. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  9. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  10. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  11. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  12. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  13. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  14. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  15. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  16. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  17. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  18. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  19. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  20. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  21. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  22. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  23. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  24. Beijing is the ________________ of China.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. march — the month
  3. prune — to trim
  4. cell — in a prison
  5. cell — a phone
  6. foot — the bottom
  7. foot — part of the body
  8. mark — a trace
  9. capital — money
  10. march — the month
  11. foot — a measure
  12. mark — a grade
  13. wind — to turn a key
  14. wind — moving air
  15. race — the arms race
  16. mark — to pay attention
  17. cell — in biology
  18. race — a contest
  19. capital — a big letter
  20. prune — the fruit
  21. race — humankind
  22. wind — moving air
  23. march — music
  24. capital — a city

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