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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: season · degree · capital · racket · pop · prune · wake · fork

  1. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  2. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  3. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  4. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  5. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  8. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  9. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  10. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  11. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  12. You don't need to ________________ round.
  13. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  14. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  15. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  16. We're almost out of ________________.
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  19. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  20. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  21. Did you ________________ the meat?
  22. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  23. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  24. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — a garden tool
  2. racket — for tennis
  3. wake — before a funeral
  4. prune — to trim
  5. wake — to stop sleeping
  6. degree — an amount
  7. prune — the fruit
  8. capital — money
  9. racket — for tennis
  10. racket — a loud noise
  11. fork — to eat with
  12. pop — to visit
  13. degree — from a university
  14. capital — a city
  15. season — in sport
  16. pop — soda
  17. degree — temperature
  18. prune — to trim
  19. season — of the year
  20. wake — a trail
  21. season — to add flavour
  22. fork — in a road
  23. pop — music
  24. capital — a big letter

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