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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. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  2. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  4. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  5. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  6. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  7. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  8. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  9. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  10. He was locked up in a ________________.
  11. He works in a ________________ mill.
  12. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  13. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  14. Have you found your soul ________________?
  15. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  16. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  17. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  18. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  19. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  20. She's very handy with a ________________.
  21. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  22. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  23. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  24. The polar ice ________________ is melting.

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

Answer key

  1. stem — to come from
  2. capital — a city
  3. stem — of a plant
  4. net — in sport
  5. capital — money
  6. cap — a hat
  7. hide — to keep secret
  8. hide — animal skin
  9. net — for catching
  10. cell — in a prison
  11. saw — the tool
  12. cell — a phone
  13. capital — a big letter
  14. mate — a partner
  15. mate — a friend
  16. cap — a lid
  17. hide — to keep secret
  18. saw — past of 'see'
  19. stem — a stem cell
  20. saw — the tool
  21. net — after costs
  22. cell — in biology
  23. mate — to breed
  24. cap — of ice

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