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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. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  3. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  4. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  5. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  6. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  7. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  8. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  9. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  10. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  11. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  12. What do you think of the new ________________?
  13. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  14. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  15. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  16. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  17. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  18. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  19. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  20. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  21. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  22. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  23. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  24. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. cabinet — ministers
  3. stem — a stem cell
  4. spring — a coil
  5. deal — to handle
  6. field — farmland
  7. prune — to trim
  8. capital — a big letter
  9. cabinet — a cupboard
  10. tear — from crying
  11. spring — of water
  12. cabinet — ministers
  13. stem — of a plant
  14. capital — money
  15. tear — to rip
  16. prune — to trim
  17. stem — to come from
  18. deal — an agreement
  19. prune — the fruit
  20. deal — a big deal
  21. spring — the season
  22. field — a subject
  23. field — for sport
  24. tear — from crying

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