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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. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  2. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  3. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  4. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  5. I'll be taking the ________________.
  6. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  7. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  8. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  9. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  10. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  11. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  12. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  13. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  14. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  15. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  16. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  17. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  18. He was locked up in a ________________.
  19. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  20. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  21. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  22. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  23. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  24. She had a strange look on her ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a big letter
  2. craft — boats
  3. race — the arms race
  4. capital — money
  5. tube — the underground
  6. stem — to come from
  7. hand — help
  8. face — to point toward
  9. race — humankind
  10. stem — of a plant
  11. tube — a container
  12. craft — a skill
  13. cell — a phone
  14. craft — a handicraft
  15. tube — in a tire
  16. hand — part of the body
  17. capital — a city
  18. cell — in a prison
  19. hand — in cards
  20. cell — in biology
  21. race — a contest
  22. face — to confront
  23. stem — a stem cell
  24. face — part of the head

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