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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: face · mine · wake · capital · roll · cell · prune · ruler

  1. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  2. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  3. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  4. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  5. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  6. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  7. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  8. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  9. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  10. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  11. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  12. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  13. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  14. He was locked up in a ________________.
  15. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  16. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  17. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  18. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  19. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  20. We're on a ________________ here.
  21. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  22. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  23. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  24. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — to stop sleeping
  2. face — part of the head
  3. ruler — for measuring
  4. prune — to trim
  5. prune — to trim
  6. capital — money
  7. cell — in biology
  8. capital — a city
  9. face — to point toward
  10. capital — a big letter
  11. cell — a phone
  12. roll — a list
  13. prune — the fruit
  14. cell — in a prison
  15. ruler — for measuring
  16. wake — a trail
  17. face — to confront
  18. mine — belonging to me
  19. mine — an explosive
  20. roll — on a roll
  21. roll — a cake
  22. mine — for digging
  23. ruler — a monarch
  24. wake — before a funeral

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