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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.

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: root · cabinet · capital · prune · bat · net · chest · scale

  1. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  3. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  4. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  5. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  6. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  7. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  8. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  9. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  10. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  13. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  14. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  15. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  16. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  17. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  18. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  19. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  20. What do you think of the new ________________?
  21. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  22. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  23. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  24. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. prune — to trim
  3. scale — size or range
  4. chest — of your body
  5. prune — the fruit
  6. capital — a big letter
  7. net — for catching
  8. cabinet — ministers
  9. scale — in music
  10. scale — for weighing
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. root — of a plant
  13. net — after costs
  14. bat — for baseball
  15. bat — the animal
  16. net — in sport
  17. cabinet — a cupboard
  18. chest — of your body
  19. prune — to trim
  20. cabinet — ministers
  21. root — of a word
  22. root — the cause
  23. capital — money
  24. chest — a box

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