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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. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  3. It's one o'clock ________________.
  4. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  5. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  6. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  7. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  8. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  9. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  10. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  11. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  12. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  13. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  14. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  15. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  16. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  17. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  18. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  19. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  20. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  21. When are we going to ________________?
  22. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  23. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  24. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.

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

Answer key

  1. stem — to come from
  2. rest — a break
  3. sharp — exactly
  4. rest — what's left
  5. wound — an injury
  6. capital — a big letter
  7. stem — a stem cell
  8. tear — from crying
  9. wound — an injury
  10. branch — of a tree
  11. stem — of a plant
  12. tear — from crying
  13. capital — money
  14. wound — past of 'wind'
  15. capital — a city
  16. land — ground
  17. rest — what's left
  18. sharp — with an edge
  19. branch — a division
  20. land — a country
  21. land — to come down
  22. sharp — clever
  23. tear — to rip
  24. branch — of a bank

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