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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: leaves · capital · kid · prune · spring · current · wake · staff

  1. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  2. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  5. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  6. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  7. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  8. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  9. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  10. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  11. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  12. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  13. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  14. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  15. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  16. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  17. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  18. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  19. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  20. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  21. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  22. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  23. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  24. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — before a funeral
  2. staff — employees
  3. kid — to tease
  4. prune — to trim
  5. current — of water
  6. prune — the fruit
  7. leaves — of a tree
  8. leaves — lets stay
  9. leaves — to go away
  10. capital — a big letter
  11. spring — of water
  12. spring — the season
  13. capital — a city
  14. wake — to stop sleeping
  15. kid — child
  16. spring — a coil
  17. current — happening now
  18. staff — a stick
  19. wake — a trail
  20. prune — to trim
  21. current — electric
  22. capital — money
  23. staff — employees
  24. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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