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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: capital · prune · content · saw · season · cell · scale · fork

  1. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  2. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  3. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  4. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  5. He works in a ________________ mill.
  6. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  7. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  8. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  9. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  10. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  11. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  12. Did you ________________ the meat?
  13. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  14. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  15. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  16. She's very handy with a ________________.
  17. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  18. He was locked up in a ________________.
  19. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  20. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  21. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  22. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  23. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  24. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.

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

Answer key

  1. season — of the year
  2. scale — for weighing
  3. season — in sport
  4. content — the amount
  5. saw — the tool
  6. capital — money
  7. content — videos and posts
  8. content — happy
  9. cell — a phone
  10. prune — to trim
  11. capital — a city
  12. season — to add flavour
  13. prune — the fruit
  14. capital — a big letter
  15. cell — in biology
  16. saw — the tool
  17. fork — a garden tool
  18. cell — in a prison
  19. scale — in music
  20. fork — to eat with
  21. fork — in a road
  22. saw — past of 'see'
  23. scale — size or range
  24. prune — to trim

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