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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. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  3. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  4. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  5. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  6. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  7. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  8. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  9. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  10. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  11. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  12. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  13. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  14. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  15. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  16. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  17. False peace will not ________________.
  18. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  19. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  20. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  21. Have you settled on a ________________?
  22. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  23. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  24. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a big letter
  2. hand — in cards
  3. capital — money
  4. branch — a division
  5. stem — a stem cell
  6. spring — the season
  7. cue — for pool
  8. date — on the calendar
  9. hand — part of the body
  10. branch — of a tree
  11. spring — a coil
  12. hand — help
  13. cue — a hint
  14. branch — of a bank
  15. last — final
  16. stem — to come from
  17. last — to go on
  18. capital — a city
  19. last — finally
  20. date — the fruit
  21. date — on the calendar
  22. stem — of a plant
  23. cue — a signal
  24. spring — of water

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