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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. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  2. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  3. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  4. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  5. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  6. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  7. That must've been a ________________.
  8. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  9. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  10. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  11. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  12. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  13. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  14. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  15. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  16. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  17. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  18. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  19. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  20. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  21. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  22. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  23. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  24. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — money
  2. rush — to hurry
  3. wake — before a funeral
  4. stem — a stem cell
  5. wake — to stop sleeping
  6. rush — hurry
  7. rush — a thrill
  8. bark — of a tree
  9. wake — a trail
  10. leaves — of a tree
  11. bass — the instrument
  12. capital — a city
  13. stem — of a plant
  14. cap — of ice
  15. leaves — to go away
  16. stem — to come from
  17. leaves — lets stay
  18. cap — a lid
  19. capital — a big letter
  20. bark — to shout
  21. bark — a dog's sound
  22. bass — low music
  23. cap — a hat
  24. bass — the fish

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