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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 newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  2. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  3. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  6. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  7. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  8. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  9. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  10. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  11. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  12. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  13. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  14. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  15. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  16. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  17. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  18. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  19. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  20. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  21. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  22. It's one o'clock ________________.
  23. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  24. He's quite ________________, isn't he?

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

Answer key

  1. foot — the bottom
  2. band — a rubber band
  3. bark — a dog's sound
  4. capital — a city
  5. stem — a stem cell
  6. spring — the season
  7. trunk — of a car
  8. bark — to shout
  9. spring — a coil
  10. stem — to come from
  11. capital — money
  12. spring — of water
  13. bark — of a tree
  14. trunk — of a tree
  15. capital — a big letter
  16. foot — part of the body
  17. trunk — of an elephant
  18. stem — of a plant
  19. foot — a measure
  20. sharp — with an edge
  21. band — a music group
  22. sharp — exactly
  23. band — a ring
  24. sharp — clever

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