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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 · bound · bore · bowl · ground · wake · stem · hand

  1. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  2. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  3. There's no middle ________________.
  4. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  5. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  6. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  7. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  8. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  9. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  10. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  11. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  12. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  13. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  14. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  15. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  16. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  17. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  18. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  19. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  20. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  21. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  22. That was ________________ to happen.
  23. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  24. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a dish
  2. bowl — to roll
  3. ground — a position
  4. bowl — a football final
  5. hand — help
  6. stem — of a plant
  7. bound — tied together
  8. wake — before a funeral
  9. bore — to drill
  10. wake — to stop sleeping
  11. capital — a city
  12. hand — in cards
  13. wake — a trail
  14. ground — crushed
  15. bound — obliged
  16. stem — a stem cell
  17. bore — gave birth
  18. bore — to tire
  19. hand — part of the body
  20. capital — a big letter
  21. ground — the earth
  22. bound — certain
  23. stem — to come from
  24. capital — money

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