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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: fork · prune · rule · kick · degree · rash · capital · snap

  1. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  2. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  3. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  4. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  5. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  6. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  7. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  8. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  9. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  10. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  11. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  12. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  13. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  14. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  15. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  16. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. Don't do anything ________________.
  19. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  20. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  21. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  22. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  23. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  24. Beijing is the ________________ of China.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to click
  2. capital — money
  3. fork — in a road
  4. prune — to trim
  5. rash — a series
  6. rule — a law
  7. fork — a garden tool
  8. prune — the fruit
  9. rash — on the skin
  10. rule — to rule out
  11. degree — from a university
  12. capital — a big letter
  13. prune — to trim
  14. fork — to eat with
  15. snap — to snap out of it
  16. snap — to speak sharply
  17. degree — temperature
  18. rash — hasty
  19. degree — an amount
  20. kick — a thrill
  21. rule — government
  22. kick — in football
  23. kick — with a leg
  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