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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: squash · shower · swing · capital · root · prune · ball · spell

  1. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  2. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  5. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  6. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  7. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  8. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  9. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  10. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  11. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  12. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  13. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  14. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  15. How do you ________________ your surname?
  16. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  17. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  18. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  19. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  20. The King held a masked ________________.
  21. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  22. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  23. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  24. David sat on the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — money
  2. squash — to crush
  3. capital — a city
  4. shower — rain
  5. squash — the vegetable
  6. squash — the sport
  7. ball — a great time
  8. root — of a plant
  9. prune — to trim
  10. prune — the fruit
  11. spell — a short time
  12. swing — in golf
  13. spell — magic
  14. shower — to wash
  15. spell — letters
  16. ball — a round shape
  17. swing — music
  18. prune — to trim
  19. root — of a word
  20. ball — a dance
  21. shower — a meteor shower
  22. capital — a big letter
  23. root — the cause
  24. swing — to play on

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