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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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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 · capital · field · mate · rock · prune · chest · rule

  1. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  2. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  3. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  4. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  5. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  6. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  7. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  8. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  9. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  10. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  11. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  12. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  13. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  14. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  15. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  16. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  19. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  20. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  21. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  22. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  23. Have you found your soul ________________?
  24. He was blown up by a land ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — belonging to me
  2. chest — a box
  3. mate — a friend
  4. chest — of your body
  5. rock — to move gently
  6. prune — to trim
  7. chest — of your body
  8. rule — a law
  9. prune — the fruit
  10. rock — music
  11. prune — to trim
  12. rock — a stone
  13. capital — money
  14. field — farmland
  15. rule — government
  16. field — for sport
  17. field — a subject
  18. rule — to rule out
  19. mate — to breed
  20. capital — a city
  21. capital — a big letter
  22. mine — for digging
  23. mate — a partner
  24. mine — an explosive

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