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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 · wake · bay · shower · racket · object · capital · clip

  1. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  2. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  5. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  6. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  7. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  8. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  11. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  14. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  15. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  16. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  17. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  18. My mare is ________________ in color.
  19. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  20. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  21. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  22. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  23. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  24. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.

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

Answer key

  1. bay — a part of the sea
  2. capital — money
  3. clip — a video
  4. object — to protest
  5. capital — a big letter
  6. wake — before a funeral
  7. object — an aim
  8. prune — to trim
  9. clip — to cut
  10. prune — to trim
  11. capital — a city
  12. clip — for paper
  13. wake — to stop sleeping
  14. shower — a meteor shower
  15. wake — a trail
  16. racket — a loud noise
  17. bay — to keep at bay
  18. bay — a horse colour
  19. prune — the fruit
  20. shower — to wash
  21. object — a thing
  22. shower — rain
  23. racket — for tennis
  24. racket — for tennis

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