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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: tube · drill · tear · scale · content · prune · season · capital

  1. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  3. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  4. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  5. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  6. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  7. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  8. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  9. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  10. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  11. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  12. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  13. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  14. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  15. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  16. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  17. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  18. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  19. Did you ________________ the meat?
  20. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  21. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  22. I'll be taking the ________________.
  23. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  24. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. scale — size or range
  3. prune — to trim
  4. season — in sport
  5. tube — in a tire
  6. prune — the fruit
  7. prune — to trim
  8. scale — for weighing
  9. capital — a city
  10. capital — money
  11. content — the amount
  12. scale — in music
  13. content — videos and posts
  14. drill — army training
  15. tear — from crying
  16. drill — a practice
  17. season — of the year
  18. tear — to rip
  19. season — to add flavour
  20. tube — a container
  21. capital — a big letter
  22. tube — the underground
  23. drill — the tool
  24. tear — from crying

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