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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 116 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: drill · prune · scale · last · capital · mark · wave · fall

  1. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  2. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  5. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  6. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  7. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  8. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  9. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  10. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  11. False peace will not ________________.
  12. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  13. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  14. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  15. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  16. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  17. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  18. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  19. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  20. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  21. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  22. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  23. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  24. She got the top ________________ in the exam.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — money
  2. prune — to trim
  3. capital — a city
  4. prune — the fruit
  5. last — final
  6. prune — to trim
  7. scale — for weighing
  8. capital — a big letter
  9. mark — a trace
  10. mark — to pay attention
  11. last — to go on
  12. fall — the season
  13. fall — to drop
  14. last — finally
  15. scale — size or range
  16. wave — a sudden rise
  17. drill — army training
  18. wave — of the sea
  19. scale — in music
  20. drill — the tool
  21. fall — to drop
  22. drill — a practice
  23. wave — with your hand
  24. mark — a grade

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