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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 116 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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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: shower · firm · march · trunk · stem · hand · deal · capital

  1. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  2. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  3. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  4. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  5. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  6. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  7. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  8. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  9. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  10. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  11. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  12. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  13. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  14. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  15. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  16. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  17. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  18. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  19. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  20. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  21. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  22. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  23. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  24. We took cover from the thunder ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stem — of a plant
  2. march — music
  3. firm — a company
  4. trunk — of a tree
  5. capital — a city
  6. hand — help
  7. deal — an agreement
  8. capital — a big letter
  9. shower — a meteor shower
  10. hand — part of the body
  11. stem — a stem cell
  12. stem — to come from
  13. deal — a big deal
  14. march — the month
  15. hand — in cards
  16. trunk — of a car
  17. trunk — of an elephant
  18. march — the month
  19. shower — to wash
  20. firm — decided
  21. capital — money
  22. deal — to handle
  23. firm — steady
  24. shower — rain

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