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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: mine · snap · tear · track · prune · current · capital · rule

  1. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  2. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  3. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  4. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  5. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  6. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  7. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  8. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  9. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  10. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  11. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  12. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  13. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  14. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  15. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  16. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  17. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  18. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  19. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  20. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  21. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  22. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  23. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  24. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.

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

Answer key

  1. current — of water
  2. mine — for digging
  3. tear — to rip
  4. snap — to click
  5. tear — from crying
  6. prune — to trim
  7. track — to keep track
  8. rule — a law
  9. mine — belonging to me
  10. prune — to trim
  11. capital — a big letter
  12. tear — from crying
  13. track — a song
  14. prune — the fruit
  15. capital — money
  16. snap — to snap out of it
  17. rule — to rule out
  18. snap — to speak sharply
  19. mine — an explosive
  20. capital — a city
  21. track — a path
  22. current — electric
  23. rule — government
  24. current — happening now

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