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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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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: capital · spring · prune · track · bark · tube · snap · rule

  1. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  2. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  5. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  6. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  7. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  8. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  9. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  10. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  11. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  12. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  13. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  14. I'll be taking the ________________.
  15. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  16. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  17. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  18. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  19. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  20. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  21. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  22. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  23. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  24. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — of water
  2. capital — money
  3. capital — a city
  4. bark — a dog's sound
  5. prune — the fruit
  6. rule — government
  7. snap — to speak sharply
  8. prune — to trim
  9. track — to keep track
  10. bark — to shout
  11. rule — to rule out
  12. tube — a container
  13. rule — a law
  14. tube — the underground
  15. track — a path
  16. spring — a coil
  17. snap — to click
  18. bark — of a tree
  19. capital — a big letter
  20. spring — the season
  21. prune — to trim
  22. track — a song
  23. snap — to snap out of it
  24. tube — in a tire

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