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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: field · capital · present · stem · kid · key · trunk · content

  1. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  2. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  3. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  4. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  5. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  6. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  7. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  8. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  9. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  12. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  13. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  14. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  15. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  16. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  17. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  18. This piece is in a major ________________.
  19. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  20. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  21. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  22. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  23. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  24. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  2. key — for a lock
  3. present — there
  4. trunk — of an elephant
  5. capital — a big letter
  6. capital — a city
  7. capital — money
  8. present — a gift
  9. stem — to come from
  10. field — for sport
  11. stem — of a plant
  12. field — a subject
  13. stem — a stem cell
  14. content — the amount
  15. key — the most important part
  16. content — videos and posts
  17. trunk — of a tree
  18. key — in music
  19. kid — child
  20. field — farmland
  21. content — happy
  22. present — the time now
  23. trunk — of a car
  24. kid — to tease

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