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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: leaves · trunk · ruler · prune · clip · scale · capital · perch

  1. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  3. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  4. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  5. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  6. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  7. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  8. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  9. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  12. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  13. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  14. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  15. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  16. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  17. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  18. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  19. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  23. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  24. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. scale — in music
  3. capital — money
  4. scale — size or range
  5. prune — to trim
  6. leaves — lets stay
  7. trunk — of a car
  8. perch — for a bird
  9. prune — to trim
  10. clip — for paper
  11. leaves — to go away
  12. prune — the fruit
  13. perch — the fish
  14. ruler — for measuring
  15. ruler — a monarch
  16. trunk — of an elephant
  17. leaves — of a tree
  18. scale — for weighing
  19. ruler — for measuring
  20. clip — to cut
  21. clip — a video
  22. trunk — of a tree
  23. capital — a big letter
  24. perch — for a bird

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