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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: pound · clip · stem · fork · fine · capital

  1. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  2. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  3. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  4. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  5. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  8. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  9. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  10. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  14. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  15. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  16. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  17. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  18. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a big letter
  2. fork — in a road
  3. fork — to eat with
  4. fine — all right
  5. stem — to come from
  6. clip — to cut
  7. capital — money
  8. fork — a garden tool
  9. fine — a penalty
  10. pound — to hit hard
  11. clip — a video
  12. clip — for paper
  13. capital — a city
  14. stem — a stem cell
  15. pound — for dogs
  16. pound — a weight
  17. fine — high quality
  18. stem — of a plant

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