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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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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: prune · hand · leaves · snap · ball · sharp · fan · capital

  1. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  2. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  3. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  4. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  5. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  6. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  7. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  8. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  9. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  10. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  11. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  12. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  13. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  14. The King held a masked ________________.
  15. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  16. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  17. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  18. It's one o'clock ________________.
  19. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  20. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  21. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  22. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  23. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  24. A ________________ is just a dried plum.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. hand — part of the body
  3. sharp — with an edge
  4. leaves — to go away
  5. capital — a big letter
  6. fan — a supporter
  7. leaves — of a tree
  8. capital — a city
  9. sharp — clever
  10. fan — a supporter
  11. capital — money
  12. snap — to speak sharply
  13. leaves — lets stay
  14. ball — a dance
  15. hand — in cards
  16. fan — to cool the air
  17. snap — to snap out of it
  18. sharp — exactly
  19. ball — a great time
  20. snap — to click
  21. prune — to trim
  22. ball — a round shape
  23. hand — help
  24. prune — the fruit

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