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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: scale · last · rash · rock · capital · roll · bat · branch

  1. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  2. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  4. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  5. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  6. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  7. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  8. Don't do anything ________________.
  9. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  10. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  11. We're on a ________________ here.
  12. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  15. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. False peace will not ________________.
  18. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  19. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  20. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  21. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  22. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  23. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  24. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a big letter
  2. capital — a city
  3. last — finally
  4. capital — money
  5. bat — the animal
  6. branch — of a bank
  7. branch — of a tree
  8. rash — hasty
  9. rock — to move gently
  10. rock — music
  11. roll — on a roll
  12. roll — a cake
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. rash — on the skin
  15. last — final
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. last — to go on
  18. scale — size or range
  19. branch — a division
  20. rash — a series
  21. roll — a list
  22. scale — in music
  23. rock — a stone
  24. scale — for weighing

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