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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 · scale · pit · staff · capital · mark · net · spring

  1. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  2. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  4. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  5. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  6. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  7. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  8. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  9. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  10. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  11. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  12. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  13. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  14. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  15. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  16. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  17. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  18. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  19. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  20. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  21. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  22. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  23. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  24. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.

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

Answer key

  1. pit — a hole
  2. capital — a city
  3. scale — for weighing
  4. staff — a stick
  5. mark — to pay attention
  6. capital — a big letter
  7. net — for catching
  8. mark — a grade
  9. net — after costs
  10. net — in sport
  11. capital — money
  12. spring — a coil
  13. prune — to trim
  14. mark — a trace
  15. pit — in a race
  16. scale — in music
  17. pit — a fruit stone
  18. spring — of water
  19. prune — the fruit
  20. scale — size or range
  21. prune — to trim
  22. staff — employees
  23. spring — the season
  24. staff — employees

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