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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: racket · club · capital · pound · march · land · prune · nail

  1. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  2. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  3. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  4. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  5. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  6. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  7. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  8. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  9. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  10. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  11. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  12. When are we going to ________________?
  13. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  14. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  15. The ________________ went through the wall.
  16. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  17. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  18. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  19. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  20. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  21. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  22. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  23. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  24. Beijing is the ________________ of China.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. racket — for tennis
  3. land — a country
  4. march — music
  5. prune — to trim
  6. pound — a weight
  7. racket — for tennis
  8. capital — a big letter
  9. racket — a loud noise
  10. nail — for a hammer
  11. club — for golf
  12. land — to come down
  13. capital — money
  14. club — a group
  15. nail — for a hammer
  16. pound — to hit hard
  17. nail — on a finger
  18. march — the month
  19. prune — the fruit
  20. club — for dancing
  21. land — ground
  22. march — the month
  23. pound — for dogs
  24. capital — a city

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