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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: ruler · hand · face · capital · cap · land · prune · chest

  1. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  2. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  3. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  4. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  5. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  6. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  7. When are we going to ________________?
  8. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  9. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  10. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  11. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  12. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  13. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  14. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  15. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  16. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  17. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  18. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  19. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  20. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  21. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  22. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  23. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  24. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. cap — a hat
  3. ruler — for measuring
  4. land — ground
  5. capital — a big letter
  6. prune — to trim
  7. land — to come down
  8. capital — a city
  9. chest — of your body
  10. chest — of your body
  11. face — part of the head
  12. chest — a box
  13. face — to point toward
  14. capital — money
  15. land — a country
  16. hand — part of the body
  17. prune — the fruit
  18. face — to confront
  19. ruler — a monarch
  20. cap — a lid
  21. hand — in cards
  22. cap — of ice
  23. hand — help
  24. ruler — for measuring

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