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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. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  3. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  4. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  5. That was ________________ to happen.
  6. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  7. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  8. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  9. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  10. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  11. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  12. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  13. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  14. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  15. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  16. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  17. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  18. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  19. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  20. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  21. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  22. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  23. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  24. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. rock — a stone
  3. row — a quarrel
  4. row — to paddle
  5. bound — certain
  6. kid — to tease
  7. mark — a trace
  8. mark — to pay attention
  9. fall — the season
  10. rock — music
  11. stem — of a plant
  12. fall — to drop
  13. mark — a grade
  14. fall — to drop
  15. stem — to come from
  16. capital — money
  17. row — a line
  18. bound — obliged
  19. rock — to move gently
  20. stem — a stem cell
  21. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  22. kid — child
  23. capital — a big letter
  24. bound — tied together

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