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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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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: cap · shower · lean · saw · prune · arm · capital · bay

  1. My mare is ________________ in color.
  2. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  5. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  6. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  7. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  8. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  9. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  10. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  11. My father caught me by the ________________.
  12. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  13. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  14. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  15. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  16. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  17. She's very handy with a ________________.
  18. He works in a ________________ mill.
  19. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  20. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  21. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  22. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  23. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  24. He is as ________________ as a wolf.

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

Answer key

  1. bay — a horse colour
  2. cap — a hat
  3. capital — a city
  4. prune — to trim
  5. capital — money
  6. shower — to wash
  7. saw — past of 'see'
  8. cap — a lid
  9. prune — to trim
  10. bay — to keep at bay
  11. arm — part of the body
  12. prune — the fruit
  13. shower — a meteor shower
  14. lean — to rest against
  15. capital — a big letter
  16. lean — to bend
  17. saw — the tool
  18. saw — the tool
  19. arm — part of the body
  20. bay — a part of the sea
  21. cap — of ice
  22. shower — rain
  23. arm — a part of something
  24. lean — thin

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