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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: net · tube · capital · object · snap · stem · season · field

  1. Did you ________________ the meat?
  2. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  3. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  4. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  5. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  6. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  9. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  10. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  11. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  12. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  13. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  14. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  15. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  16. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  17. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  18. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  19. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  20. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  21. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  22. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  23. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  24. I'll be taking the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. season — to add flavour
  2. snap — to speak sharply
  3. field — for sport
  4. capital — money
  5. capital — a city
  6. season — of the year
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. object — to protest
  9. tube — a container
  10. object — a thing
  11. tube — in a tire
  12. field — a subject
  13. stem — to come from
  14. snap — to snap out of it
  15. object — an aim
  16. net — for catching
  17. field — farmland
  18. season — in sport
  19. stem — a stem cell
  20. stem — of a plant
  21. net — after costs
  22. snap — to click
  23. net — in sport
  24. tube — the underground

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