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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: tear · cap · capital · stem · pitcher · kid · root · straw

  1. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  2. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  3. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  4. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  5. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  6. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  7. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  8. He is an ace ________________.
  9. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  10. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  11. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  12. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  13. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  14. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  15. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  16. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  17. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  18. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  19. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  20. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  21. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  22. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  23. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  24. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. stem — a stem cell
  3. kid — child
  4. capital — a big letter
  5. straw — to clutch at straws
  6. capital — money
  7. straw — dry grass
  8. pitcher — in baseball
  9. root — of a word
  10. stem — of a plant
  11. cap — of ice
  12. root — the cause
  13. cap — a hat
  14. cap — a lid
  15. tear — from crying
  16. kid — to tease
  17. root — of a plant
  18. tear — from crying
  19. straw — a straw man
  20. pitcher — a jug
  21. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  22. stem — to come from
  23. capital — a city
  24. tear — to rip

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