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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 · stem · bark · stock · present · bat · face · plane

  1. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  2. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  3. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  4. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  5. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  6. The ________________ took off on time.
  7. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  8. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  9. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  10. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  11. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  12. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  13. The ________________ market has crashed.
  14. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  15. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  18. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  19. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  20. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  21. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  22. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  23. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  24. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to confront
  2. plane — a tool
  3. present — the time now
  4. plane — in geometry
  5. bat — the animal
  6. plane — an aircraft
  7. stem — a stem cell
  8. capital — money
  9. face — part of the head
  10. capital — a big letter
  11. capital — a city
  12. stem — of a plant
  13. stock — shares
  14. bat — for baseball
  15. present — a gift
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. stem — to come from
  18. bark — a dog's sound
  19. stock — goods
  20. face — to point toward
  21. stock — a soup base
  22. bark — to shout
  23. present — there
  24. bark — of a tree

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