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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: prune · club · capital · foot · cap · squash · tube · tear

  1. I'll be taking the ________________.
  2. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  3. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  4. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  5. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  6. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  7. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  8. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  9. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  10. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  11. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  12. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  13. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  14. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  15. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  16. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  17. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  18. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  19. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  20. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  21. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  22. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  23. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  24. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — the underground
  2. foot — the bottom
  3. prune — to trim
  4. club — for dancing
  5. tear — to rip
  6. club — for golf
  7. tube — in a tire
  8. cap — of ice
  9. tear — from crying
  10. capital — a city
  11. cap — a hat
  12. foot — part of the body
  13. foot — a measure
  14. cap — a lid
  15. squash — the sport
  16. capital — a big letter
  17. capital — money
  18. tube — a container
  19. squash — to crush
  20. tear — from crying
  21. squash — the vegetable
  22. prune — the fruit
  23. club — a group
  24. prune — to trim

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