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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 · ruler · prune · hand · snap · spring · face · key

  1. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  2. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  3. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  4. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  5. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  6. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  7. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  8. This piece is in a major ________________.
  9. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  10. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  11. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  12. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  13. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  14. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  15. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  16. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  17. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  18. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  19. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  20. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  21. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  22. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  23. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  24. I got dealt a bad ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. key — for a lock
  2. face — to confront
  3. prune — the fruit
  4. capital — money
  5. spring — a coil
  6. key — the most important part
  7. prune — to trim
  8. key — in music
  9. snap — to click
  10. face — to point toward
  11. snap — to snap out of it
  12. snap — to speak sharply
  13. ruler — for measuring
  14. spring — of water
  15. hand — help
  16. prune — to trim
  17. ruler — a monarch
  18. capital — a city
  19. ruler — for measuring
  20. capital — a big letter
  21. spring — the season
  22. hand — part of the body
  23. face — part of the head
  24. hand — in cards

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