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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: capital · chair · snap · face · trunk · wave · prune · mate

  1. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  2. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  3. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  4. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  5. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  6. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  7. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  8. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  9. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  10. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  11. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  12. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  13. Have you found your soul ________________?
  14. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  15. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  16. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  17. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  18. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  19. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  20. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  21. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  22. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  23. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  24. Beijing is the ________________ of China.

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

Answer key

  1. wave — a sudden rise
  2. prune — to trim
  3. face — to point toward
  4. capital — money
  5. mate — to breed
  6. trunk — of an elephant
  7. snap — to snap out of it
  8. wave — with your hand
  9. face — to confront
  10. trunk — of a tree
  11. mate — a friend
  12. snap — to click
  13. mate — a partner
  14. trunk — of a car
  15. wave — of the sea
  16. chair — to sit on
  17. capital — a big letter
  18. chair — a leader
  19. prune — to trim
  20. chair — a professorship
  21. face — part of the head
  22. snap — to speak sharply
  23. prune — the fruit
  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