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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: capital · object · band · saw · stem · ground · season · cold

  1. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  2. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  3. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  6. He works in a ________________ mill.
  7. She's very handy with a ________________.
  8. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  9. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  10. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  11. Did you ________________ the meat?
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  14. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  15. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  16. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  17. There's no middle ________________.
  18. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  19. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  22. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  23. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  24. Add some ________________ pepper to it.

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

Answer key

  1. object — an aim
  2. saw — past of 'see'
  3. capital — a big letter
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. capital — a city
  6. saw — the tool
  7. saw — the tool
  8. object — to protest
  9. band — a ring
  10. ground — the earth
  11. season — to add flavour
  12. cold — an illness
  13. stem — a stem cell
  14. stem — of a plant
  15. object — a thing
  16. season — in sport
  17. ground — a position
  18. capital — money
  19. season — of the year
  20. cold — not warm
  21. stem — to come from
  22. band — a rubber band
  23. band — a music group
  24. ground — crushed

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