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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: can · chair · wake · capital · spring · prune · track · race

  1. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  2. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  3. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  4. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  5. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  6. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  7. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  8. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  9. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  10. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  11. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  12. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  13. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  14. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  15. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  16. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  17. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  18. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  19. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  20. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  21. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  22. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  23. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  24. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. track — a path
  3. wake — before a funeral
  4. prune — the fruit
  5. chair — a leader
  6. race — the arms race
  7. chair — a professorship
  8. prune — to trim
  9. wake — a trail
  10. spring — a coil
  11. spring — of water
  12. wake — to stop sleeping
  13. chair — to sit on
  14. spring — the season
  15. race — humankind
  16. race — a contest
  17. track — a song
  18. can — to be able to
  19. can — a tin
  20. capital — money
  21. can — a tin
  22. track — to keep track
  23. capital — a city
  24. capital — a big letter

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