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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. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  2. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  3. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  4. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  5. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  6. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  7. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  8. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  9. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  10. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  11. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  12. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  13. We're on a ________________ here.
  14. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  15. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  16. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  17. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  18. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  19. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  20. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  21. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  22. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  23. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  24. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a quarrel
  2. stem — to come from
  3. dip — to sink
  4. present — the time now
  5. capital — a big letter
  6. dip — to dunk
  7. chest — of your body
  8. capital — money
  9. march — music
  10. march — the month
  11. capital — a city
  12. stem — a stem cell
  13. roll — on a roll
  14. chest — a box
  15. present — there
  16. roll — a list
  17. row — a line
  18. row — to paddle
  19. roll — a cake
  20. stem — of a plant
  21. march — the month
  22. chest — of your body
  23. present — a gift
  24. dip — a sauce

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