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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: band · degree · capital · tear · stem · foot

  1. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  2. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  3. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  6. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  7. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  8. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  9. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  10. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  11. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  12. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  13. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  14. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  15. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  18. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a big letter
  2. tear — from crying
  3. stem — a stem cell
  4. capital — a city
  5. foot — a measure
  6. band — a rubber band
  7. stem — to come from
  8. degree — an amount
  9. capital — money
  10. foot — the bottom
  11. tear — from crying
  12. band — a music group
  13. tear — to rip
  14. foot — part of the body
  15. stem — of a plant
  16. degree — temperature
  17. band — a ring
  18. degree — from a university

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