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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. That was a fun ________________.
  2. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  3. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  4. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  5. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  8. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  9. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  10. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  11. That was ________________ to happen.
  12. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  13. The ________________ took off on time.
  14. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  18. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  19. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  20. He was locked up in a ________________.
  21. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  22. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  23. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  24. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a match
  2. stem — of a plant
  3. pound — a weight
  4. bound — tied together
  5. capital — a city
  6. cold — an illness
  7. capital — money
  8. plane — a tool
  9. pound — for dogs
  10. capital — a big letter
  11. bound — certain
  12. plane — in geometry
  13. plane — an aircraft
  14. cell — in biology
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. cold — not warm
  17. game — a kind of play
  18. pound — to hit hard
  19. cell — a phone
  20. cell — in a prison
  21. bound — obliged
  22. stem — to come from
  23. stem — a stem cell
  24. game — wild animals

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