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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. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  2. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  3. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  4. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  5. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  6. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  7. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  8. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  9. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  10. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  11. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  12. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  13. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  14. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  15. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  16. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  17. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  18. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  19. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  20. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  21. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  22. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  23. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  24. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — of water
  2. prune — the fruit
  3. stem — to come from
  4. stem — of a plant
  5. club — a group
  6. foot — a measure
  7. club — for dancing
  8. capital — a big letter
  9. capital — money
  10. foot — part of the body
  11. prune — to trim
  12. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  13. band — a ring
  14. foot — the bottom
  15. spring — a coil
  16. spring — the season
  17. band — a rubber band
  18. kid — to tease
  19. club — for golf
  20. capital — a city
  21. kid — child
  22. prune — to trim
  23. band — a music group
  24. stem — a stem cell

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