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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. My father caught me by the ________________.
  3. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  4. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  5. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  6. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  7. How do you ________________ your surname?
  8. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  9. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  10. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  11. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  12. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  13. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  14. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  15. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  16. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  17. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  18. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  19. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  20. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  21. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  22. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  23. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  24. The ________________ went through the wall.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a big letter
  2. arm — part of the body
  3. stem — a stem cell
  4. spell — a short time
  5. chest — of your body
  6. arm — part of the body
  7. spell — letters
  8. stem — to come from
  9. fork — in a road
  10. fork — a garden tool
  11. chest — a box
  12. nail — on a finger
  13. arm — a part of something
  14. scale — size or range
  15. fork — to eat with
  16. scale — for weighing
  17. capital — money
  18. chest — of your body
  19. scale — in music
  20. spell — magic
  21. capital — a city
  22. stem — of a plant
  23. nail — for a hammer
  24. nail — for a hammer

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