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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: fall · wax · capital · prune · rule · last · current · land

  1. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  2. When are we going to ________________?
  3. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  4. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  5. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  6. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  7. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  8. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  9. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  10. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  11. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  12. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  13. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  14. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  15. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  16. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  17. False peace will not ________________.
  18. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  19. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  20. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  21. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  22. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  23. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  24. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. land — to come down
  3. current — happening now
  4. current — electric
  5. last — final
  6. last — finally
  7. fall — to drop
  8. rule — government
  9. prune — to trim
  10. wax — for sculpting
  11. wax — in the ear
  12. wax — to grow
  13. rule — to rule out
  14. prune — to trim
  15. fall — the season
  16. rule — a law
  17. last — to go on
  18. land — a country
  19. capital — a big letter
  20. fall — to drop
  21. prune — the fruit
  22. current — of water
  23. capital — a city
  24. capital — money

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