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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: tear · cell · capital · wave · stem · spell

  1. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  2. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  3. How do you ________________ your surname?
  4. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  5. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  6. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  7. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  8. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  9. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  10. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  11. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  12. He was locked up in a ________________.
  13. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  14. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  15. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  16. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  17. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  18. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.

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

Answer key

  1. stem — to come from
  2. wave — with your hand
  3. spell — letters
  4. spell — a short time
  5. capital — a big letter
  6. tear — from crying
  7. stem — a stem cell
  8. wave — of the sea
  9. spell — magic
  10. capital — a city
  11. cell — in biology
  12. cell — in a prison
  13. wave — a sudden rise
  14. cell — a phone
  15. stem — of a plant
  16. tear — from crying
  17. capital — money
  18. tear — to rip

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