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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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  2. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  3. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  4. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  5. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  6. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  7. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  8. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  9. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  10. When are we going to ________________?
  11. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  12. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  15. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  16. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  17. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  18. A ________________ is just a dried plum.

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

Answer key

  1. land — a country
  2. capital — money
  3. stem — of a plant
  4. bat — for baseball
  5. land — ground
  6. march — the month
  7. march — the month
  8. stem — to come from
  9. march — music
  10. land — to come down
  11. stem — a stem cell
  12. prune — to trim
  13. bat — the animal
  14. prune — to trim
  15. bat — in an idiom
  16. capital — a big letter
  17. capital — a city
  18. prune — the fruit

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