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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 116 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. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  3. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  4. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  5. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  6. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  7. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  8. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  9. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  10. We're almost out of ________________.
  11. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  12. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  13. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  14. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  15. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  16. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  17. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  18. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  19. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  20. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  21. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  22. You don't need to ________________ round.
  23. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  24. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stem — to come from
  2. leaves — to go away
  3. scale — for weighing
  4. scale — in music
  5. leaves — of a tree
  6. cap — a hat
  7. leaves — lets stay
  8. capital — money
  9. pop — music
  10. pop — soda
  11. wound — an injury
  12. current — of water
  13. capital — a big letter
  14. cap — a lid
  15. stem — of a plant
  16. capital — a city
  17. current — electric
  18. wound — an injury
  19. cap — of ice
  20. wound — past of 'wind'
  21. current — happening now
  22. pop — to visit
  23. stem — a stem cell
  24. scale — size or range

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