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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 beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  2. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. I can't ________________ this cold.
  5. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  8. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  9. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. False peace will not ________________.
  12. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  13. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  14. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  15. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  16. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  17. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  18. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  19. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  20. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  21. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  22. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  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. capital — a big letter
  2. leaves — lets stay
  3. capital — a city
  4. stand — to bear
  5. wound — an injury
  6. clip — for paper
  7. lie — to recline
  8. lie — an untruth
  9. last — finally
  10. clip — to cut
  11. last — to go on
  12. stand — on your feet
  13. stem — to come from
  14. leaves — of a tree
  15. lie — an untruth
  16. wound — an injury
  17. wound — past of 'wind'
  18. stand — for spectators
  19. capital — money
  20. last — final
  21. leaves — to go away
  22. stem — of a plant
  23. clip — a video
  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