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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: fan · scale · clip · drill · capital · wake · game · toast

  1. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  2. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  3. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  4. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  5. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  6. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  7. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  8. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  11. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  12. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  15. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  16. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  17. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  18. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  21. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  22. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  23. That was a fun ________________.
  24. We had a fire ________________ at school today.

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

Answer key

  1. scale — size or range
  2. toast — a drink to someone
  3. wake — before a funeral
  4. wake — a trail
  5. fan — a supporter
  6. drill — army training
  7. capital — money
  8. drill — the tool
  9. clip — a video
  10. capital — a big letter
  11. fan — to cool the air
  12. scale — for weighing
  13. clip — to cut
  14. scale — in music
  15. capital — a city
  16. wake — to stop sleeping
  17. game — a kind of play
  18. fan — a supporter
  19. clip — for paper
  20. toast — bread
  21. game — wild animals
  22. toast — the most admired
  23. game — a match
  24. drill — a practice

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