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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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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: rest · mark · scale · cell · wind · object · capital · tube

  1. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  2. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  3. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  4. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  5. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  6. I'll be taking the ________________.
  7. He was locked up in a ________________.
  8. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  9. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  10. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  11. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  12. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  13. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  14. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  15. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  16. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  17. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  18. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  19. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  20. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  21. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  22. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  23. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  24. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — a phone
  2. object — to protest
  3. capital — money
  4. scale — size or range
  5. wind — moving air
  6. tube — the underground
  7. cell — in a prison
  8. scale — in music
  9. wind — to turn a key
  10. mark — to pay attention
  11. wind — moving air
  12. rest — a break
  13. capital — a big letter
  14. rest — what's left
  15. object — an aim
  16. cell — in biology
  17. mark — a trace
  18. tube — in a tire
  19. tube — a container
  20. mark — a grade
  21. object — a thing
  22. capital — a city
  23. scale — for weighing
  24. rest — what's left

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