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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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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: chest · capital · kid · march · prune · perch · stick · court

  1. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  2. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  3. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  6. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  7. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  8. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  9. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  10. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  11. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  12. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  13. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  14. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  15. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  16. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  17. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  18. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  19. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  20. The ball is in your ________________.
  21. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  22. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  23. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  24. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.

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

Answer key

  1. stick — a piece of wood
  2. prune — the fruit
  3. capital — money
  4. capital — a city
  5. capital — a big letter
  6. stick — a piece of wood
  7. perch — for a bird
  8. chest — of your body
  9. prune — to trim
  10. kid — child
  11. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  12. prune — to trim
  13. court — of law
  14. chest — of your body
  15. perch — for a bird
  16. march — music
  17. march — the month
  18. kid — to tease
  19. court — of a king
  20. court — for sport
  21. perch — the fish
  22. chest — a box
  23. march — the month
  24. stick — to attach or keep to

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