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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: prune · capital · file · drill · bass · chip · band · dip

  1. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  3. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  4. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  5. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  6. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  7. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  8. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  9. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  10. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  11. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  12. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  13. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  14. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  15. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  16. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  17. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  18. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  19. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  20. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  21. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  22. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  23. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  24. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. chip — to eat
  3. capital — a big letter
  4. bass — the fish
  5. drill — the tool
  6. dip — to sink
  7. bass — the instrument
  8. band — a music group
  9. drill — army training
  10. prune — to trim
  11. file — a document
  12. file — a tool
  13. drill — a practice
  14. file — a line of people
  15. band — a ring
  16. dip — to dunk
  17. dip — a sauce
  18. prune — the fruit
  19. bass — low music
  20. band — a rubber band
  21. capital — money
  22. chip — in a computer
  23. prune — to trim
  24. chip — for betting

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