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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.

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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: capital · scale · racket · rush · stand · drill · prune · spell

  1. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  2. How do you ________________ your surname?
  3. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  4. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  5. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  6. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  7. I can't ________________ this cold.
  8. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  9. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  10. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  11. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  12. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  13. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  14. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  15. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  16. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  17. That must've been a ________________.
  18. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  19. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  20. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  21. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  22. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  23. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  24. He hit the ball with his ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — hurry
  2. spell — letters
  3. scale — size or range
  4. drill — army training
  5. spell — magic
  6. prune — the fruit
  7. stand — to bear
  8. racket — a loud noise
  9. scale — for weighing
  10. capital — money
  11. racket — for tennis
  12. drill — a practice
  13. prune — to trim
  14. stand — on your feet
  15. scale — in music
  16. drill — the tool
  17. rush — a thrill
  18. rush — to hurry
  19. spell — a short time
  20. prune — to trim
  21. stand — for spectators
  22. capital — a big letter
  23. capital — a city
  24. racket — for tennis

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