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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 120 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: cap · saw · field · scale · season · bat · prune · ball

  1. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. He works in a ________________ mill.
  4. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  5. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  6. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  7. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  8. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  9. The King held a masked ________________.
  10. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  11. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  12. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  13. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  14. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  15. She's very handy with a ________________.
  16. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  17. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  18. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  19. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  20. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  21. Did you ________________ the meat?
  22. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  23. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  24. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. field — farmland
  3. saw — the tool
  4. bat — the animal
  5. bat — in an idiom
  6. season — in sport
  7. ball — a great time
  8. scale — size or range
  9. ball — a dance
  10. prune — the fruit
  11. bat — for baseball
  12. cap — a hat
  13. scale — in music
  14. scale — for weighing
  15. saw — the tool
  16. prune — to trim
  17. season — of the year
  18. field — for sport
  19. field — a subject
  20. cap — a lid
  21. season — to add flavour
  22. ball — a round shape
  23. cap — of ice
  24. saw — past of 'see'

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