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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 120 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: ruler · wave · swing · capital · prune · mine · safe · cold

  1. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  2. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  3. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  4. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  5. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  6. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  11. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  12. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  13. David sat on the ________________.
  14. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  15. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  16. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  19. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  20. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  21. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  22. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  23. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  24. Beijing is the ________________ of China.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — an explosive
  2. capital — money
  3. mine — for digging
  4. wave — of the sea
  5. prune — to trim
  6. safe — out of danger
  7. cold — not warm
  8. prune — the fruit
  9. cold — an illness
  10. safe — a strongbox
  11. swing — in golf
  12. ruler — for measuring
  13. swing — to play on
  14. ruler — a monarch
  15. mine — belonging to me
  16. prune — to trim
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. wave — a sudden rise
  19. wave — with your hand
  20. capital — a big letter
  21. ruler — for measuring
  22. safe — out of danger
  23. swing — music
  24. capital — a city

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