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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. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  3. Where did you ________________ them?
  4. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  5. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  6. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  9. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  10. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  11. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  12. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  13. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  14. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  15. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  16. How do you ________________ your surname?
  17. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  18. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  19. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  20. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  21. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  22. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  23. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  24. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. stem — to come from
  3. mug — to rob
  4. band — a ring
  5. capital — money
  6. spell — magic
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. prune — to trim
  9. stem — a stem cell
  10. craft — a handicraft
  11. band — a rubber band
  12. craft — boats
  13. snap — to speak sharply
  14. band — a music group
  15. prune — the fruit
  16. spell — letters
  17. mug — a face
  18. snap — to click
  19. mug — a cup
  20. craft — a skill
  21. snap — to snap out of it
  22. prune — to trim
  23. spell — a short time
  24. stem — of a plant

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