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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. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  3. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  4. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  5. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  6. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  7. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  8. He is an ace ________________.
  9. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  10. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  11. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  12. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  13. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  14. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  15. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  16. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  17. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  18. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  19. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  20. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  21. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  22. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  23. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  24. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. fall — to drop
  3. stem — a stem cell
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. capital — a big letter
  6. snap — to click
  7. squash — to crush
  8. pitcher — in baseball
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. capital — money
  11. rest — what's left
  12. fall — to drop
  13. rest — what's left
  14. squash — the vegetable
  15. rest — a break
  16. stem — of a plant
  17. squash — the sport
  18. snap — to speak sharply
  19. stem — to come from
  20. fall — the season
  21. snap — to snap out of it
  22. lie — an untruth
  23. lie — an untruth
  24. lie — to recline

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