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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: cold · ruler · rule · perch · fan · fine · capital · prune

  1. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  2. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  4. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  5. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  6. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  7. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  8. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  13. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  16. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  17. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  18. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  19. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  20. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  21. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  22. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  23. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  24. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?

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

Answer key

  1. rule — a law
  2. capital — a city
  3. prune — to trim
  4. ruler — for measuring
  5. capital — money
  6. perch — the fish
  7. fan — to cool the air
  8. fine — all right
  9. cold — not warm
  10. perch — for a bird
  11. cold — an illness
  12. perch — for a bird
  13. capital — a big letter
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. rule — to rule out
  16. prune — to trim
  17. fine — high quality
  18. ruler — for measuring
  19. rule — government
  20. fan — a supporter
  21. ruler — a monarch
  22. prune — the fruit
  23. fine — a penalty
  24. fan — a supporter

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