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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. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  2. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  3. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  4. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  5. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  6. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  7. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  8. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  9. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  10. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  11. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  12. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  13. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  14. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  15. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  16. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  17. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  18. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  19. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  20. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  21. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  22. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  23. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  24. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.

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

Answer key

  1. stem — to come from
  2. spring — of water
  3. cap — a hat
  4. spring — the season
  5. bear — the animal
  6. capital — a city
  7. capital — money
  8. cap — a lid
  9. cap — of ice
  10. bear — the animal
  11. fan — to cool the air
  12. wake — to stop sleeping
  13. stem — a stem cell
  14. bass — the instrument
  15. spring — a coil
  16. fan — a supporter
  17. capital — a big letter
  18. bear — to put up with
  19. wake — a trail
  20. fan — a supporter
  21. stem — of a plant
  22. bass — low music
  23. bass — the fish
  24. wake — before a funeral

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