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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.

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: mate · jam · cold · lean · foot · track · capital · prune

  1. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  2. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  5. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  6. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  7. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  10. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  11. Have you found your soul ________________?
  12. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  13. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  16. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  17. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  18. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  19. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  20. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  21. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  22. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. jam — a tight spot
  2. prune — to trim
  3. capital — a city
  4. jam — to spread on bread
  5. foot — part of the body
  6. track — to keep track
  7. lean — to rest against
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. track — a song
  10. track — a path
  11. mate — a partner
  12. lean — to bend
  13. foot — the bottom
  14. cold — an illness
  15. mate — a friend
  16. foot — a measure
  17. mate — to breed
  18. lean — thin
  19. capital — money
  20. prune — to trim
  21. capital — a big letter
  22. prune — the fruit
  23. cold — not warm
  24. jam — in traffic

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