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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: last · rush · staff · clip · stem · cabinet · capital · field

  1. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  2. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  3. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  6. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  9. What do you think of the new ________________?
  10. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  11. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  12. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  15. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  16. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  17. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  18. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  19. That must've been a ________________.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  22. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  23. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  24. False peace will not ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — to hurry
  2. capital — money
  3. field — for sport
  4. clip — for paper
  5. last — final
  6. cabinet — a cupboard
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. staff — employees
  9. cabinet — ministers
  10. field — a subject
  11. capital — a city
  12. staff — a stick
  13. clip — a video
  14. stem — to come from
  15. cabinet — ministers
  16. stem — of a plant
  17. last — finally
  18. staff — employees
  19. rush — a thrill
  20. clip — to cut
  21. rush — hurry
  22. stem — a stem cell
  23. field — farmland
  24. last — to go on

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