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

Word bank: deal · kid · last · capital · vault · stem

  1. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  3. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  4. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  5. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  6. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  7. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  8. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  9. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  10. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  11. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  12. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  13. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  14. False peace will not ________________.
  15. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  16. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  17. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  18. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. last — final
  3. vault — a safe
  4. deal — a big deal
  5. stem — to come from
  6. stem — a stem cell
  7. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  8. last — finally
  9. deal — to handle
  10. kid — to tease
  11. deal — an agreement
  12. stem — of a plant
  13. vault — in gymnastics
  14. last — to go on
  15. kid — child
  16. capital — a big letter
  17. vault — an arched ceiling
  18. capital — money

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