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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: tear · ball · firm · kid · stem · capital

  1. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  2. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  3. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  4. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  5. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  6. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  7. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  8. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  9. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  10. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  11. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  12. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  13. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  14. The King held a masked ________________.
  15. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  16. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  17. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  18. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stem — a stem cell
  2. ball — a great time
  3. firm — steady
  4. kid — child
  5. kid — to tease
  6. ball — a round shape
  7. tear — from crying
  8. stem — to come from
  9. capital — a city
  10. tear — to rip
  11. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  12. stem — of a plant
  13. capital — a big letter
  14. ball — a dance
  15. tear — from crying
  16. firm — decided
  17. capital — money
  18. firm — a company

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