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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: scale · fan · fork · capital · swing · season · shower · cell

  1. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  3. Did you ________________ the meat?
  4. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  5. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  6. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  7. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  8. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  9. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  10. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  11. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  12. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  13. David sat on the ________________.
  14. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  15. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  16. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  17. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  18. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  19. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  20. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  21. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  22. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  23. He was locked up in a ________________.
  24. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. scale — size or range
  3. season — to add flavour
  4. shower — a meteor shower
  5. cell — in biology
  6. capital — money
  7. season — in sport
  8. capital — a city
  9. fan — a supporter
  10. capital — a big letter
  11. fan — a supporter
  12. scale — for weighing
  13. swing — to play on
  14. swing — in golf
  15. fork — to eat with
  16. swing — music
  17. shower — rain
  18. scale — in music
  19. fork — in a road
  20. fork — a garden tool
  21. season — of the year
  22. fan — to cool the air
  23. cell — in a prison
  24. cell — a phone

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