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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. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  2. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  3. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  4. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  5. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  6. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  7. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  8. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  9. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  10. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  11. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  12. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  13. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  14. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  15. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  16. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  17. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  18. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  19. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  20. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  21. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  22. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  23. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  24. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.

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

Answer key

  1. deal — a big deal
  2. capital — a big letter
  3. stem — a stem cell
  4. prune — to trim
  5. chair — a professorship
  6. shower — a meteor shower
  7. shower — to wash
  8. capital — a city
  9. deal — an agreement
  10. capital — money
  11. deal — to handle
  12. file — a tool
  13. prune — the fruit
  14. shower — rain
  15. prune — to trim
  16. chair — to sit on
  17. file — a line of people
  18. leaves — to go away
  19. stem — to come from
  20. stem — of a plant
  21. chair — a leader
  22. file — a document
  23. leaves — of a tree
  24. leaves — lets stay

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