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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 120 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. You don't need to ________________ round.
  2. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  3. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  4. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  5. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  6. I've got to change the light ________________.
  7. We're almost out of ________________.
  8. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  9. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  10. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  11. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  12. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  13. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  14. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  15. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  16. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  17. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  18. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  19. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  20. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  21. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  22. The light ________________ burned out.
  23. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  24. The polar ice ________________ is melting.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — to visit
  2. cap — a hat
  3. stem — to come from
  4. stem — a stem cell
  5. pop — music
  6. bulb — for light
  7. pop — soda
  8. cap — a lid
  9. rule — a law
  10. capital — money
  11. bulb — of a plant
  12. bark — of a tree
  13. kid — child
  14. capital — a big letter
  15. rule — government
  16. stem — of a plant
  17. bark — a dog's sound
  18. capital — a city
  19. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  20. rule — to rule out
  21. bark — to shout
  22. bulb — for light
  23. kid — to tease
  24. cap — of ice

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