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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: prune · capital · leaves · degree · spring · perch · tear · ground

  1. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  2. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  3. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  4. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  5. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  6. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  7. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  8. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  9. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  10. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  11. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  14. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  15. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  16. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  17. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  18. There's no middle ________________.
  19. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  20. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  21. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  22. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  23. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  24. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — of water
  2. leaves — lets stay
  3. leaves — of a tree
  4. ground — crushed
  5. capital — a city
  6. capital — money
  7. perch — for a bird
  8. perch — for a bird
  9. capital — a big letter
  10. tear — from crying
  11. spring — the season
  12. degree — temperature
  13. tear — from crying
  14. tear — to rip
  15. prune — to trim
  16. spring — a coil
  17. perch — the fish
  18. ground — a position
  19. prune — the fruit
  20. degree — from a university
  21. prune — to trim
  22. degree — an amount
  23. leaves — to go away
  24. ground — the earth

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