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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: scale · hand · prune · bat · cabinet · bark · roll · last

  1. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  2. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  3. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  4. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  5. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  6. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  7. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  8. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  9. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  10. False peace will not ________________.
  11. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  12. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  13. What do you think of the new ________________?
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  16. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  17. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  18. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  19. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  20. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  21. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  22. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  23. We're on a ________________ here.
  24. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cabinet — ministers
  2. bat — for baseball
  3. bark — of a tree
  4. last — finally
  5. bark — a dog's sound
  6. bark — to shout
  7. hand — part of the body
  8. last — final
  9. cabinet — a cupboard
  10. last — to go on
  11. scale — for weighing
  12. prune — to trim
  13. cabinet — ministers
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. hand — help
  16. roll — a cake
  17. prune — to trim
  18. bat — the animal
  19. roll — a list
  20. prune — the fruit
  21. hand — in cards
  22. scale — in music
  23. roll — on a roll
  24. scale — size or range

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