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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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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 · bear · kid · last · court · bass · lie · capital

  1. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  2. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  3. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  4. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  5. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  6. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  7. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  8. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  9. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  10. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  11. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  12. The ball is in your ________________.
  13. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  14. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  15. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  16. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  17. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  18. False peace will not ________________.
  19. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  20. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  21. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  22. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  23. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  24. I play ________________ in a jazz band.

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

Answer key

  1. lie — to recline
  2. last — final
  3. prune — to trim
  4. prune — to trim
  5. last — finally
  6. bass — the fish
  7. lie — an untruth
  8. bear — the animal
  9. capital — a big letter
  10. bear — the animal
  11. capital — money
  12. court — for sport
  13. lie — an untruth
  14. bass — low music
  15. court — of a king
  16. kid — to tease
  17. prune — the fruit
  18. last — to go on
  19. kid — child
  20. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  21. court — of law
  22. capital — a city
  23. bear — to put up with
  24. bass — the instrument

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