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

Word bank: cold · stem · capital · firm · present · kid

  1. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  5. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  6. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  7. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  10. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  11. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  12. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  15. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  16. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  17. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  18. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. firm — decided
  3. cold — not warm
  4. stem — of a plant
  5. present — there
  6. present — the time now
  7. capital — money
  8. cold — an illness
  9. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  10. firm — a company
  11. present — a gift
  12. capital — a city
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. capital — a big letter
  15. kid — to tease
  16. firm — steady
  17. stem — to come from
  18. stem — a stem cell

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