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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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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: chair · pop · mouse · prune · last · game · season · capital

  1. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  2. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  3. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  4. You don't need to ________________ round.
  5. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  6. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  7. That was a fun ________________.
  8. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  9. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  10. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  11. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  12. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  13. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  14. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  15. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  16. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  17. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  18. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  19. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  20. Did you ________________ the meat?
  21. False peace will not ________________.
  22. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  23. We're almost out of ________________.
  24. Beijing is the ________________ of China.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — music
  2. chair — a professorship
  3. season — in sport
  4. pop — to visit
  5. mouse — the animal
  6. mouse — for a computer
  7. game — a match
  8. game — wild animals
  9. mouse — the animal
  10. prune — the fruit
  11. prune — to trim
  12. season — of the year
  13. prune — to trim
  14. capital — money
  15. chair — a leader
  16. chair — to sit on
  17. capital — a big letter
  18. last — finally
  19. last — final
  20. season — to add flavour
  21. last — to go on
  22. game — a kind of play
  23. pop — soda
  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