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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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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: wind · wake · cell · cabinet · capital · scale

  1. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  2. What do you think of the new ________________?
  3. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  4. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  5. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  6. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  9. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  10. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  11. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  12. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  13. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  14. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  15. He was locked up in a ________________.
  16. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  17. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  18. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — money
  2. cabinet — ministers
  3. wake — before a funeral
  4. wind — to turn a key
  5. cabinet — a cupboard
  6. wind — moving air
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. wake — a trail
  9. scale — for weighing
  10. cell — a phone
  11. wind — moving air
  12. capital — a city
  13. scale — in music
  14. cell — in biology
  15. cell — in a prison
  16. cabinet — ministers
  17. wake — to stop sleeping
  18. scale — size or range

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