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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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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: sharp · mine · mark · stem · pound · capital · track · clip

  1. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  2. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  3. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  4. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  7. It's one o'clock ________________.
  8. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  9. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  10. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  11. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  14. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  15. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  16. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  17. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  18. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  21. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  22. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  23. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  24. This knife is not ________________ enough.

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

Answer key

  1. stem — of a plant
  2. mark — to pay attention
  3. mine — for digging
  4. track — a path
  5. clip — for paper
  6. pound — for dogs
  7. sharp — exactly
  8. capital — money
  9. pound — to hit hard
  10. mark — a trace
  11. track — a song
  12. clip — to cut
  13. mine — belonging to me
  14. mark — a grade
  15. track — to keep track
  16. sharp — clever
  17. capital — a big letter
  18. stem — to come from
  19. clip — a video
  20. pound — a weight
  21. stem — a stem cell
  22. capital — a city
  23. mine — an explosive
  24. sharp — with an edge

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