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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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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: racket · cell · stem · last · spell · capital

  1. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  2. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  3. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  4. He was locked up in a ________________.
  5. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  6. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  7. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  8. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  9. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  10. False peace will not ________________.
  11. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  12. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  13. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  14. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  15. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  16. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  17. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  18. How do you ________________ your surname?

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

Answer key

  1. racket — a loud noise
  2. racket — for tennis
  3. last — finally
  4. cell — in a prison
  5. spell — a short time
  6. stem — to come from
  7. last — final
  8. capital — a city
  9. stem — of a plant
  10. last — to go on
  11. capital — a big letter
  12. cell — in biology
  13. stem — a stem cell
  14. capital — money
  15. racket — for tennis
  16. spell — magic
  17. cell — a phone
  18. spell — letters

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