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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 · fork · patient · wind · degree · capital

  1. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  2. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  3. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  4. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  5. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  6. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  7. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  8. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  9. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  10. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  11. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  12. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  13. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  14. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  15. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  16. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  17. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  18. Beijing is the ________________ of China.

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

Answer key

  1. stem — a stem cell
  2. fork — a garden tool
  3. patient — calm and waiting
  4. fork — in a road
  5. degree — temperature
  6. capital — a big letter
  7. wind — moving air
  8. wind — moving air
  9. patient — a sick person
  10. wind — to turn a key
  11. stem — to come from
  12. capital — money
  13. fork — to eat with
  14. degree — from a university
  15. stem — of a plant
  16. patient — a sick person
  17. degree — an amount
  18. capital — a city

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