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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: stem · cap · race · capital · degree · bank

  1. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  2. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  3. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  4. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  5. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  6. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  7. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  8. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  9. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  10. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  11. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  12. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  13. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  14. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  15. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  16. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  17. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  18. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stem — to come from
  2. stem — of a plant
  3. cap — a hat
  4. capital — a big letter
  5. cap — of ice
  6. bank — for money
  7. stem — a stem cell
  8. capital — a city
  9. degree — from a university
  10. bank — of a river
  11. race — the arms race
  12. cap — a lid
  13. degree — an amount
  14. degree — temperature
  15. bank — for money
  16. race — humankind
  17. race — a contest
  18. capital — money

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