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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. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  2. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  3. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  4. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  5. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  6. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  7. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  8. Did you ________________ the meat?
  9. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  10. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  11. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  12. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  13. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  14. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  15. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  16. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  17. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  18. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  19. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  20. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  21. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  22. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  23. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  24. False peace will not ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stem — to come from
  2. last — final
  3. capital — money
  4. row — a line
  5. fall — to drop
  6. last — finally
  7. capital — a city
  8. season — to add flavour
  9. stem — of a plant
  10. fall — to drop
  11. row — to paddle
  12. capital — a big letter
  13. pitch — completely
  14. fall — the season
  15. row — a quarrel
  16. pitch — a sports field
  17. pitch — a sales talk
  18. mouse — for a computer
  19. season — in sport
  20. stem — a stem cell
  21. mouse — the animal
  22. mouse — the animal
  23. season — of the year
  24. last — to go on

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