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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: spring · content · current · cabinet · prune · capital · rule · cell

  1. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  2. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  3. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  4. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  5. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  6. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  7. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  8. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  9. He was locked up in a ________________.
  10. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  11. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  12. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  13. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  14. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  15. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  16. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  17. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  18. What do you think of the new ________________?
  19. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  20. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  21. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  22. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  23. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  24. Let us try to swim against the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — of water
  2. cabinet — a cupboard
  3. rule — government
  4. capital — money
  5. content — happy
  6. capital — a city
  7. rule — to rule out
  8. prune — the fruit
  9. cell — in a prison
  10. content — the amount
  11. content — videos and posts
  12. prune — to trim
  13. prune — to trim
  14. cell — a phone
  15. spring — the season
  16. spring — a coil
  17. current — happening now
  18. cabinet — ministers
  19. rule — a law
  20. cabinet — ministers
  21. capital — a big letter
  22. current — electric
  23. cell — in biology
  24. current — of water

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