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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: present · field · scale · kick · capital · band · branch · game

  1. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  2. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  3. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  4. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  5. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  6. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  7. That was a fun ________________.
  8. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  9. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  10. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  11. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  12. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  13. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  14. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  15. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  16. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  17. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  18. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  19. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  20. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  21. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  22. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  23. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  24. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. scale — for weighing
  2. capital — money
  3. capital — a big letter
  4. field — farmland
  5. kick — in football
  6. branch — of a tree
  7. game — a match
  8. kick — a thrill
  9. kick — with a leg
  10. present — a gift
  11. field — for sport
  12. scale — in music
  13. field — a subject
  14. present — there
  15. branch — of a bank
  16. branch — a division
  17. band — a rubber band
  18. band — a music group
  19. capital — a city
  20. scale — size or range
  21. band — a ring
  22. game — a kind of play
  23. present — the time now
  24. game — wild animals

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