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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. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  2. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  3. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  4. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  5. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  6. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  7. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  8. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  9. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  10. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  11. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  12. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  13. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  14. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  15. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  16. Have you met the new head ________________?
  17. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  18. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  19. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  20. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  21. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  22. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  23. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  24. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — money
  2. rest — a break
  3. stem — of a plant
  4. cap — of ice
  5. chair — a professorship
  6. file — a tool
  7. chair — to sit on
  8. cap — a lid
  9. row — a line
  10. cap — a hat
  11. rest — what's left
  12. file — a line of people
  13. stem — to come from
  14. rest — what's left
  15. capital — a big letter
  16. coach — a trainer
  17. coach — pulled by horses
  18. row — to paddle
  19. coach — a trainer
  20. file — a document
  21. row — a quarrel
  22. chair — a leader
  23. capital — a city
  24. stem — a stem cell

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