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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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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. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  2. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  4. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  5. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  6. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  7. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  8. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  9. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  10. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  11. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  12. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  13. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  14. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  15. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  16. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  17. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  18. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  19. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  20. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  21. It's one o'clock ________________.
  22. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  23. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  24. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.

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

Answer key

  1. stem — of a plant
  2. capital — a city
  3. wake — to stop sleeping
  4. sharp — clever
  5. drill — a practice
  6. deal — a big deal
  7. stem — to come from
  8. drill — army training
  9. capital — money
  10. capital — a big letter
  11. deal — to handle
  12. wake — before a funeral
  13. trunk — of a tree
  14. march — music
  15. march — the month
  16. drill — the tool
  17. sharp — with an edge
  18. trunk — of a car
  19. stem — a stem cell
  20. march — the month
  21. sharp — exactly
  22. trunk — of an elephant
  23. deal — an agreement
  24. wake — a trail

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