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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 116 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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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: prune · shower · capital · vault · nail · kid · cap · drill

  1. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  2. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  3. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  4. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  5. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  6. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  9. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  10. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  11. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  12. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  13. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  14. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  15. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  16. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  17. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  18. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  19. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  20. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  21. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  22. The ________________ went through the wall.
  23. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  24. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — a hat
  2. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  3. prune — to trim
  4. shower — a meteor shower
  5. nail — for a hammer
  6. drill — the tool
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. vault — an arched ceiling
  9. capital — a city
  10. shower — to wash
  11. capital — money
  12. vault — a safe
  13. prune — the fruit
  14. kid — child
  15. shower — rain
  16. prune — to trim
  17. cap — a lid
  18. cap — of ice
  19. drill — army training
  20. vault — in gymnastics
  21. nail — on a finger
  22. nail — for a hammer
  23. drill — a practice
  24. kid — to tease

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