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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: bass · prune · present · kid · capital · rule · row · rest

  1. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  2. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  3. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  4. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  5. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  6. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  7. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  8. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  9. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  10. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  11. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  12. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  13. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  14. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  15. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  16. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  17. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  18. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  19. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  20. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  21. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  22. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  23. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  24. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.

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

Answer key

  1. rule — a law
  2. row — a quarrel
  3. present — there
  4. kid — to tease
  5. bass — the fish
  6. rest — what's left
  7. rule — government
  8. kid — child
  9. present — a gift
  10. capital — a city
  11. capital — money
  12. prune — to trim
  13. present — the time now
  14. rest — a break
  15. bass — low music
  16. rest — what's left
  17. rule — to rule out
  18. prune — the fruit
  19. bass — the instrument
  20. prune — to trim
  21. row — to paddle
  22. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  23. capital — a big letter
  24. row — a line

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