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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: cap · capital · prune · fork · wind · degree · trunk · rule

  1. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  2. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  3. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  4. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  5. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  6. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  7. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  8. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  9. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  10. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  11. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  12. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  13. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  14. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  15. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  16. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  17. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  18. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  19. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  22. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  23. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  24. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of a tree
  2. trunk — of an elephant
  3. fork — to eat with
  4. prune — to trim
  5. rule — government
  6. wind — moving air
  7. prune — to trim
  8. degree — an amount
  9. cap — of ice
  10. rule — to rule out
  11. capital — a big letter
  12. wind — to turn a key
  13. cap — a hat
  14. wind — moving air
  15. prune — the fruit
  16. trunk — of a car
  17. fork — in a road
  18. cap — a lid
  19. fork — a garden tool
  20. degree — temperature
  21. capital — a city
  22. rule — a law
  23. capital — money
  24. degree — from a university

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