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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: saw · season · band · prune · nail · capital · cold · net

  1. She's very handy with a ________________.
  2. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  5. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  6. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  7. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  8. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. The ________________ went through the wall.
  11. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  12. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  13. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  14. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  17. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  18. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  19. Did you ________________ the meat?
  20. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  21. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  22. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  23. He works in a ________________ mill.
  24. Spring is a pleasant ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. saw — the tool
  2. saw — past of 'see'
  3. cold — not warm
  4. net — for catching
  5. capital — a big letter
  6. prune — to trim
  7. nail — for a hammer
  8. net — in sport
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. nail — for a hammer
  11. capital — a city
  12. band — a rubber band
  13. capital — money
  14. prune — the fruit
  15. cold — an illness
  16. band — a music group
  17. nail — on a finger
  18. prune — to trim
  19. season — to add flavour
  20. net — after costs
  21. band — a ring
  22. season — in sport
  23. saw — the tool
  24. season — of the year

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