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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: wake · bear · fork · wind · capital · rule

  1. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  2. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  3. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  4. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  5. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  6. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  7. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  8. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  9. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  10. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  11. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  12. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  13. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  14. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  15. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  16. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  17. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  18. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — to stop sleeping
  2. rule — to rule out
  3. wind — moving air
  4. wind — to turn a key
  5. bear — to put up with
  6. fork — a garden tool
  7. fork — to eat with
  8. wake — before a funeral
  9. capital — money
  10. wake — a trail
  11. capital — a big letter
  12. capital — a city
  13. bear — the animal
  14. rule — government
  15. fork — in a road
  16. bear — the animal
  17. rule — a law
  18. wind — moving air

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