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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: band · cap · scale · game · hand · perch · prune · net

  1. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  2. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  3. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  4. That was a fun ________________.
  5. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  6. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  7. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  8. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  9. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  10. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  11. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  12. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  13. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  14. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  15. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  16. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  17. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  18. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  19. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  20. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  21. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  22. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  23. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  24. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. scale — for weighing
  2. perch — for a bird
  3. hand — in cards
  4. game — a match
  5. cap — a hat
  6. band — a ring
  7. prune — the fruit
  8. perch — for a bird
  9. game — a kind of play
  10. net — after costs
  11. perch — the fish
  12. scale — in music
  13. net — for catching
  14. prune — to trim
  15. band — a rubber band
  16. hand — part of the body
  17. game — wild animals
  18. cap — of ice
  19. scale — size or range
  20. cap — a lid
  21. prune — to trim
  22. hand — help
  23. net — in sport
  24. band — a music group

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