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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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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: capital · stem · shower · march · hide · fall

  1. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  2. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  3. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  4. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  5. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  6. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  7. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  8. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  9. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  10. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  11. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  12. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  13. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  14. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  15. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  16. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  17. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  18. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — to keep secret
  2. fall — to drop
  3. hide — to keep secret
  4. march — the month
  5. shower — rain
  6. capital — money
  7. march — music
  8. capital — a big letter
  9. hide — animal skin
  10. capital — a city
  11. stem — a stem cell
  12. fall — the season
  13. stem — of a plant
  14. march — the month
  15. fall — to drop
  16. stem — to come from
  17. shower — to wash
  18. shower — a meteor shower

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