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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.

Make a worksheet

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: snap · capital · perch · mine · can · field · last · prune

  1. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  2. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  3. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  4. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  5. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  6. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  7. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  8. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  9. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  10. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  11. False peace will not ________________.
  12. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  13. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  14. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  15. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  16. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  17. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  18. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  19. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  20. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  21. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  22. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  23. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  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. snap — to speak sharply
  3. perch — for a bird
  4. can — a tin
  5. snap — to snap out of it
  6. prune — to trim
  7. perch — the fish
  8. perch — for a bird
  9. field — farmland
  10. capital — a big letter
  11. last — to go on
  12. mine — belonging to me
  13. can — to be able to
  14. mine — an explosive
  15. prune — the fruit
  16. field — a subject
  17. last — final
  18. can — a tin
  19. last — finally
  20. snap — to click
  21. mine — for digging
  22. capital — money
  23. field — for sport
  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