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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: scale · hand · capital · net · saw · racket · last · prune

  1. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  2. False peace will not ________________.
  3. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  4. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  5. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  6. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  7. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  8. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  9. She's very handy with a ________________.
  10. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  11. He works in a ________________ mill.
  12. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  13. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  14. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  15. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  16. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  17. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  18. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  19. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  20. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  21. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  22. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  23. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  24. Do you need a ________________ with that?

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

Answer key

  1. net — in sport
  2. last — to go on
  3. last — finally
  4. hand — in cards
  5. capital — a city
  6. scale — in music
  7. racket — a loud noise
  8. prune — the fruit
  9. saw — the tool
  10. scale — for weighing
  11. saw — the tool
  12. last — final
  13. saw — past of 'see'
  14. prune — to trim
  15. net — for catching
  16. capital — money
  17. net — after costs
  18. scale — size or range
  19. racket — for tennis
  20. prune — to trim
  21. capital — a big letter
  22. racket — for tennis
  23. hand — part of the body
  24. hand — help

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