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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: net · arm · prune · fork · swing · cell · shower · capital

  1. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  2. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  3. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  4. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  5. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  6. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  7. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  8. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  9. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  10. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  11. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  12. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  13. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  14. David sat on the ________________.
  15. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  16. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  17. My father caught me by the ________________.
  18. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  19. He was locked up in a ________________.
  20. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  21. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  22. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  23. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  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. net — for catching
  2. cell — in biology
  3. net — after costs
  4. shower — a meteor shower
  5. fork — in a road
  6. capital — money
  7. swing — in golf
  8. net — in sport
  9. cell — a phone
  10. capital — a city
  11. fork — to eat with
  12. prune — to trim
  13. shower — to wash
  14. swing — to play on
  15. arm — a part of something
  16. capital — a big letter
  17. arm — part of the body
  18. prune — to trim
  19. cell — in a prison
  20. fork — a garden tool
  21. shower — rain
  22. arm — part of the body
  23. swing — music
  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