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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: spell · season · deal · rock · pitcher · spring · capital · prune

  1. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  2. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  5. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  6. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  7. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  8. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  9. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  10. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  11. How do you ________________ your surname?
  12. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  13. He is an ace ________________.
  14. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  15. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  16. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  17. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  18. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  19. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  20. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  21. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  22. Did you ________________ the meat?
  23. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  24. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. spring — the season
  3. capital — a city
  4. deal — an agreement
  5. capital — a big letter
  6. pitcher — a jug
  7. season — of the year
  8. spell — a short time
  9. prune — the fruit
  10. prune — to trim
  11. spell — letters
  12. deal — a big deal
  13. pitcher — in baseball
  14. spell — magic
  15. rock — a stone
  16. spring — a coil
  17. spring — of water
  18. deal — to handle
  19. rock — to move gently
  20. capital — money
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. season — to add flavour
  23. rock — music
  24. season — in sport

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