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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: net · ball · capital · shower · drill · prune · cold · stick

  1. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  2. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  3. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  4. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  5. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  10. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  11. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  12. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  13. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  14. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  15. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  16. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  17. The King held a masked ________________.
  18. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  19. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  20. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  21. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  22. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. A ________________ is just a dried plum.

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

Answer key

  1. stick — a piece of wood
  2. drill — the tool
  3. drill — army training
  4. prune — to trim
  5. shower — a meteor shower
  6. cold — an illness
  7. net — for catching
  8. cold — not warm
  9. net — in sport
  10. stick — to attach or keep to
  11. shower — to wash
  12. ball — a great time
  13. capital — money
  14. drill — a practice
  15. ball — a round shape
  16. capital — a city
  17. ball — a dance
  18. shower — rain
  19. prune — to trim
  20. capital — a big letter
  21. net — after costs
  22. stick — a piece of wood
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. prune — the fruit

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