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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 · board · squash · stock · cell · kid · capital · nail

  1. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  2. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  3. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  4. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  5. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  6. He was locked up in a ________________.
  7. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  8. The ________________ went through the wall.
  9. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  10. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  11. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  12. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  13. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  14. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  15. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  16. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  17. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  18. The ________________ market has crashed.
  19. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  20. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  21. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  22. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  23. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  24. ________________ games are popular in Germany.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — to crush
  2. stock — goods
  3. prune — the fruit
  4. cell — a phone
  5. capital — a big letter
  6. cell — in a prison
  7. squash — the sport
  8. nail — for a hammer
  9. nail — on a finger
  10. prune — to trim
  11. capital — a city
  12. kid — to tease
  13. board — a committee
  14. nail — for a hammer
  15. kid — child
  16. squash — the vegetable
  17. prune — to trim
  18. stock — shares
  19. stock — a soup base
  20. cell — in biology
  21. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  22. board — to get on
  23. capital — money
  24. board — a flat piece

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