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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 120 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: capital · prune · bound · hand · rest · march · object · spell

  1. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  2. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  3. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  4. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  5. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  6. That was ________________ to happen.
  7. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  8. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  9. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  10. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  11. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  12. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  13. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  14. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  15. How do you ________________ your surname?
  16. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  17. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  18. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  19. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  20. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  21. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  22. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  23. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  24. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — a short time
  2. prune — to trim
  3. hand — help
  4. bound — obliged
  5. rest — what's left
  6. bound — certain
  7. object — to protest
  8. capital — money
  9. prune — the fruit
  10. spell — magic
  11. hand — in cards
  12. hand — part of the body
  13. capital — a city
  14. march — the month
  15. spell — letters
  16. rest — what's left
  17. march — music
  18. object — a thing
  19. capital — a big letter
  20. rest — a break
  21. prune — to trim
  22. march — the month
  23. object — an aim
  24. bound — tied together

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