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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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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: wound · stem · pound · capital · stick · cold

  1. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  2. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  3. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  6. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  7. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  12. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  13. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  14. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  15. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  16. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  17. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  18. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. stem — of a plant
  3. pound — a weight
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. stem — a stem cell
  6. capital — a city
  7. stem — to come from
  8. cold — an illness
  9. wound — an injury
  10. cold — not warm
  11. pound — to hit hard
  12. wound — past of 'wind'
  13. pound — for dogs
  14. stick — to attach or keep to
  15. capital — a big letter
  16. stick — a piece of wood
  17. capital — money
  18. stick — a piece of wood

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