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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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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: stem · capital · toast · cap · kick · race

  1. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  2. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  3. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  6. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  7. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  8. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  9. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  10. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  11. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  12. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  13. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  14. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  15. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  16. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  17. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  18. Many English words ________________ from Latin.

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

Answer key

  1. toast — bread
  2. cap — of ice
  3. cap — a hat
  4. capital — a city
  5. toast — a drink to someone
  6. kick — in football
  7. capital — money
  8. race — the arms race
  9. toast — the most admired
  10. stem — a stem cell
  11. stem — of a plant
  12. cap — a lid
  13. kick — a thrill
  14. race — humankind
  15. race — a contest
  16. kick — with a leg
  17. capital — a big letter
  18. stem — to come from

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